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America's Choice Of No Choice: Lack of
Experience Versus Cranky Old Age |
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September 10, 2008 On a
pleasant Sunday afternoon in late August in
the suburbs, I approached a handful of folks
who were attending a backyard barbecue and
asked if I could chat with them for a few
minutes about the presidential contest.
It so happened that all of them were women.
Two of them were retired secretaries, one a
lawyer, one a teacher. There was only one
Republican (the lawyer), and four Democrats.
All five were white. One was a Catholic nun.
Illinois is a "blue" state, so the fact that
there were more Democrats in the mix than
Republicans was not surprising. In fact,
Illinois has not voted for a Republican in a
presidential election since Ronald Reagan's
landslide reelection in 1984. Of course,
Illinois is also Obamas' home state.
One of the older women supported Hillary in
the primaries, but was excited and very
positive now towards Obama. She closely
follows politics. She used to respect McCain,
as a "straight shooter" who sometimes stood up
to his own party. Now, she says he has "sold
out" to the conservative Republican base in
order to get the nomination.
Another woman, a teacher, spontaneously
remarked that she "didn't like McCain's wife."
In fact, among the Democrats I spoke to, the
only positive remarks about McCain came in the
form of damning with faint praise. "Not as
extreme as other Republicans," "used to be a
moderate and a maverick," or "has some
moderate views."
There was unanimous, almost dutiful, respect
for McCain's patriotism and military service,
including his time as a POW 40 years ago, but
no one thought that that qualified him to be
president.
Also, save for the lone Republican in the
group, all of the others worried about
McCain's aggressive militarism, combined with
his reputation for having a hot temper. This
could be a dangerous mix, several suggested.
All were concerned about McCain's age, to
varying degrees. The older people seemed more
worried about McCain's age than the younger
folks did.
They were all also worried about Obama's
"inexperience" and "lack of record." This was
true even for those who were otherwise very
favorable towards Obama. So, it seems that
neither candidate can win on this score! The
issue of "inexperienced vs. old" may be a
wash, after all is said and done.
At times, the raves about Obama made it sound
like a political commercial. He is
"intelligent", "creative", "inspiring". He has
"good character", "good values", "good policy
ideas". He has a "nice family".
Criticisms included worries that Obama might
be "over promising" on what he can deliver and
is a bit vague as to how he would accomplish
his campaign pledges, such as financing
universal health care. But, he can worry about
those specifics AFTER getting elected, of
course, first things first. That seemed to be
the overall attitude among the Obama
supporters.
One or two (including, unsurprisingly, the
Catholic nun) opposed Obama's position on
abortion, but not enough to change their
overall support for him.
I was surprised that even the self-identified
Republican had strong praise for Obama: "good
judgment, smart, helpful for American standing
in the world, and good for race relations."
This person also worried about McCain's
temper, but said that she will "still probably
vote for McCain", despite her ringing praise
of Obama personally, because of McCain's
"general moderate policy views, including
support of 'limited' government."
I asked this Republican, 41 yr old attorney
with 3 small children, her take on McCain's
attitude toward foreign policy. In contrast to
the Democrats I spoke to, she saw no problem
with McCain's militarism, or that of the
neoconservatives. She did not worry about the
possibility of a draft. She felt, not unlike
McCain, that the Iraq War was "mismanaged,"
but that there was no bad intent, nor any type
of "conspiracy" of the Bush administration to
lead us in to war.
However, she added "I don't read much about
it. I'm not obsessed with politics."
Remember the teacher who "didn't like McCain's
wife"? She was the only one I spoke to that
day who said, "Yes, race is a factor. White
males have monopolized power for too long. I
think it will be good to have an African
American president."
The rest of the folks I talked too (all white)
didn't want to say that race "was a factor" in
their decision as to whom to support for
president. At the same time, they seemed to
consider Obama's race as a positive, or as one
characterized it, his "diversity." Although no
one put it in this way, perhaps some of them,
already loyal Democrats inclined to support
their party nominee, looked at Obama's
ethnicity as a "bonus", or as another reason
to enthusiastically support him.
At the same time, some of them worried about
the effects of racial prejudice against Obama
in the general election. If Obama does not
prevail in November, I am sure that some of
his enthusiastic supporters will feel, perhaps
with some justification, that racism, subtle
and hidden, or even loud and overt, was indeed
a factor. The sensitive issue of race is
another reason why this election will have
serious ramifications in the world, in the
U.S., and even in Flossmoor, Illinois. |
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