big life; small space

I saw him speak in person on Tuesday evening this past week. He understands the art of oration, he appears to speak from his heart. I watched a diverse crowd come together and respond as one. It was an amazing thing. And I have been to my share of political rallies. This seemed real, how inspiration is suppose to feel.

There is no doubt that history is in the making. Time will tell.

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I am going to try to write about all of this later, but one of the things that I keep thinking is the argument Hilary is making, clumsily, is "let's enter the present" and the argument Obama is making is "let's enter the future."

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Right, it is always easier to feel better about the future than the reality of the present. It is the definition of hope.

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Well, it's also that news-media term we keep hearing of "post-racial" -- that really is how Obama is running his campaign, and yet Clinton's supporters at least keep talking about how we have to vote for her because she's a woman. It's got me cranky.

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Well, the "firsts" of the equation tend to get in the way at times. I am sure we will be reachiing "post-gender" real soon.

When you start pulling Kennedys out of the cupboards, you know the game is close and we haven't even had the seventh inning stretch yet.

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Does anyone even care about the Kennedys? Seriously, this is the craziest political thing I've seen in my life time.

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That move can only possibly apply to the generation that remembered what it was like to be inspired by politics. It was an electric time, electric. And unless the young get out and vote, it is that generation ot two that comes to the polls in droves.

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Yep, that is exactly why they rolled out the Kennedys. It wouldn't make a difference to anyone else.

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browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com

If you are of my mother's generation or older, the Kennedy endorsement is big. She was a junior in high school when the news came thru about his assassination, and she can tell me everything she did that entire day, years later. Anyway, to you and me, not so much, but for a relatively large contingent of baby boomers and older...yeah. Obama really seems to be hitting his stride...I'm quite interested how next Tuesday will unfold.

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heron61.livejournal.com

I ultimately dislike the fact that in the US we choose our leaders based on charisma. I'd vastly rather have a system like that in the various Scandinavian nations, where citizens vote on political parties and no on individuals, and where the actual leaders tend to be efficient, but often somewhat boring members of their party.

That said, I was deeply impressed, because if we are going to elect our leaders based on charisma, I'd vastly rather see messages like this one, than the messages of fear, anger, and distrust that we've seen so often of late.

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tsarina.livejournal.com

Jesus wept, that gave me goosebumps.

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rosemarymint.livejournal.com

I'm so hardened to politics these days that I just tune everything out. But for the first time, I actually heard a candidate say something that actually spoke to me. "We are not as divided as our politics suggests."

I've been on the fence for much of this campaign. Clinton and Obama are almost identical in terms of policy ideas, but it's the heart behind it. Present or future.

I'm still on the fence, but now I'm starting to shift to one side. Thanks for posting this.

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Did you delete my comment, or does it post screened?

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Neither. You posted to a different post. ;)

Happy to discuss, but must be domestic now. More later.

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Oh, ok! My apologies, then. :-) I'll be around.

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katharwen.livejournal.com

Wow... that was very moving. For the first time in my life, I've been actively following and reading up on contemporary politics in my country. I have to say, though I'm enamoured of the idea of a woman president, I think there's something about Obama that could really have an impact in America, to change it for the better.

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abbismom.livejournal.com

Incredible, moving, powerful.

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The demographic in this video was a little too skewed for my taste. I would have liked to see some more Asian, Native American and Mexican individuals in there to really be impacted by the message of diversity they were shooting for. There was about a 7:1 woman to man ratio for the Caucasian people as well. The marketing of it felt transparent to me.

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It wasn't sponsored by the campaign, rather it was a bunch of celebs who knew each other getting together, so it was self-selecting more than it was "hey, let's target so and so"

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That's good to know, at least. I felt a bit manipulated but it, though.

I'm working on this whole Obama thing. I think I'm taking a little more of a shining to him, but it takes me time to trust.

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Incidentally... (http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/112942.html?thread=7962414#t7962414)

I'm hoping that I'm not just causing trouble with that.

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We're going to bed here now, but I will catch up with you on all of that tomorrow.

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Sounds good.

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browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com

It's a pity it's not captioned, though. While I like his policy wonk on disability issues, he missed a chance to back up his words with actions in this video.

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FYI, the video wasn't created by the campaign, but independently by the celebs involved. The campaign found out about it on CNN. But yes, that should be added.

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This is the text of it, all of it taken from Obama's New Hampshire speech:

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation. Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom. Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness. Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountain-top and pointed the way to the Promised Land.
Yes we can to justice and equality. (yes we can) Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity. Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity. Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world. Yes we can. Si Se Puede.
We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We want change!
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant. We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.
We want change! I want Change.
The hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in America's story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea - Yes. We. Can.

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browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com

Ah that makes a wee bit more sense (not being captioned since it was done by third party).

And thanks for hunting down the transcript!

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mobobocita.livejournal.com

Something else they made that I thought you'd like:

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