Is Obama the Dude?

Feature Article – Jour351b

Rob Olague

Sometimes, there’s a man. Or a woman, one could argue, that is fit for the presidency. The question for this Democratic Convention, is which one?

To a nation of young voters consumed by popular culture and hungry for something different than what they’ve known, they are coming out in droves to support Barack Obama.

A black man from Hawaii or a white woman from Illinois might be the next president of the United States. Which one represents the political climate of the United States?

Obama has built his campaign on a message of uniting the country and ending bipartisan politics. Whether this is a dream or realistic goal is immaterial.

Clinton has built her campaign on a message of experience and coalitions of politicians to enact legislative goals.

What is laid bare is the numbers – Obama’s message resonates, as does Clinton’s. His message and her ideas are nearly neck-and-neck in the polling and delegate counts.

More than anything, Obama is a blank slate for the newest generation of voters. He cares about what they care about. He has no political baggage, and resonates with nearly everyone, Republicans and Democrats alike admit that at the very least, he is “likeable”.

Obama’s popularity is a reflection of the dissatisfaction in young people with their system of government, especially in consideration of the last eight years of George W. Bush. Obama promises to change the government fundamentally, and taking input from both sides of the political system, where Hillary promises to do the best with what she’s been given – a divided country and political system.

To the popular culture that lives on Digg and YouTube, the CNN and CBS of young people, Obama has become a slate for people to project their aspirations for the nation upon. He has no baggage or old political foes, no special interests he has had a change to be swayed by. He is simply the man for his time and place, whose Internet presence is unparalleled, as evidenced by Will.I.Am’s “Yes We Can” and “Obama Girl”.

His admission of trying drugs in the past resonates with a youth culture that increasingly accepts experimentation of drugs, as long as a candidate doesn’t lie about it. There are no repercussions in admitting past bad behavior as long as one doesn’t try to cover it up. The honestly and exposure inherent in the Internet generation resonates, and Barack Obama accepts those new avenues of political action, and embraces the messages of his constituency.

Barack Obama is a product of his circumstance. He’s a charismatic leader, with a mother from Kansas, and a father from Kenya, and an inspiring story that as he puts it, “Could only happen in America”. His birth alone is an affirmation of the racial healing and American Dream he champions. He’s worked with communities on the streets of Chicago and lived in Hawaii and traveled abroad extensively.

Hillary Clinton is a product of her circumstance. She has been in the right places, championing health care reform, gaining a senate seat after being in the White House for 8 years as first lady. She has met with world leaders, worked in the legal system, and has an unmatched deftness in politics.

Ultimately, only one can be the face of the Democratic party nominee. Hillary Clinton has defined the shape of her politics and message by appealing to the issues that her constituents care about. Barack Obama is appealing to the message that he cares about the same issues, but is one of the people affected by them as well.

Barack Obama is very the man for his time and place, embraced by the pop generation as one their own, and a reflection of their desires for a radically new government. He’s made no promises except to try, but the promise alone resonates with a group alienated and distrustful of their government. Obama may not be different than any other politician, but he fits the time and place.

Regardless of who gets the vote, this political race will go down to the wire. Barack Obama is the very man for his time and place, embraced by the pop generation as one of their own, and his own desire for political reform. Who wouldn’t like a president that could dunk?

Yet running against an adversary such as Hillary Clinton, a well versed and experienced campaigner, it will be interesting to see the outcome at the National Democratic convention.

As the Cowboy says in The Big Lebowski, “I only mention it become sometimes there’s a man… I won’t say a hero, ‘cause what’s a hero? Sometimes, there’s a man…Sometimes there’s a man, well, he’s the man for his time and place. He fits right in there. And that’s the Dude.”

The young people of America are calling with louder and louder voices that they want the Dude in the Oval Office. Only time will tell if The Dude does better than the Dude Rancher.