« Earliest New Hampshire returns | Main | What are the least/most gratifying books you've ever read? »
January 8, 2008
Exactly what is Obama changing?
You've heard the word "change" so much lately that it jingles and rattles in your head; and news producers have found an excuse to play snippets of a great David Bowie tune.
But what is at the root of all this talk? People have been claiming that Barack Obama is the candidate of change — yet policy analysts and others are skeptical. Isn't Barack Obama, after all, just another Democrat? And not even a very centrist one at that?
Well, for one thing, consider this comment I left over at Volunteer Voters:
We have to ask ourselves: what’s changing, then, if not policy? I see the point there; but don’t forget the fact that Obama is energizing hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of young and/or otherwise disaffected, apathetic citizens to be involved and to vote, and to do so with a sense of hope for the future.If that’s not change, I don’t know what is.
Turnout in today's New Hampshire primaries is astounding, particularly in the Democratic primary.* Of course not all of those voters are lining up to select Obama, and we shouldn't rule out the draw of major candidates Clinton and Edwards, and even Bill Richardson; but I think you'll find, at the end of the day (and this is a time when that overused expression works), that a great many of them were drawn into the process by the Obama promise.
*Is this good news for Mitt Romney?
Presidential Elections | By joe lance | 3:43 PM