An Empathy Deficit
by E. Christopher Clark | Thursday, June 5, 2008
The other day, I wrote about supporting Hillary Clinton versus supporting Barack Obama, and I’ve made several comments over the past couple of months at my friend Beth’s Website about why Obama just doesn’t do it for me. But early this morning I had an opportunity to watch the video I’ve embedded above, and it’s gotten me a little bit more enthused about the presumptive nominee than I was before.
This informative and occasionally powerful video—I almost shouted ‘Hell yeah’ at the line about our country’s empathy deficit—has also helped me to clarify for myself what it is about Obama that has bothered me so much. And it’s not that I dislike the man or his message. No, my indifference towards the senator has much more to do with the fact that I have no faith that he can deliver on what he promises.
This is probably because I am a glass half-empty kind of person, but I just don’t see how he’s going to deliver change while working within the confines of a government that has proven time and time again that it doesn’t want change at all. I think that, once he gets into that oval-shaped office, he’s going to realize how ridiculously difficult it is to make anything happen as the “leader of the free world.” And when he comes to that realization—when we all come to that realization—we’re going to end up with a country full of cranky people, cranky people woken up from a dream that was never going to become a reality in the first place.
But, I could be wrong. And I hope that I am wrong. I hope that Senator Obama is able to deliver on everything he spoke about to the crowd at Google back on November 14, 2007. If he does, I’m going to be happier than I have ever been to say, “I am a tool, and you, President Obama, you rule.”
Prev: Geek Force FiveCast - SomerVaudeville Edition (Video)
Next: Last Week on Lost: There's No Place Like Home, Part Two
Comments
beth says:
//we’re going to end up with a country full of cranky people, cranky people woken up from a dream that was never going to become a reality in the first place.//
also, this is exactly how i see this country right now, already, vis a vis the American Dream. it would be hard to get crankier, bleaker and more hopeless than we already generally are.
ChrisClark says:
//it would be hard to get crankier, bleaker and more hopeless than we already generally are.//
You really think so? Perhaps this is just the glass-half-empty part of me acting up again, but I think things can definitely get worse. I think that, if Obama disappoints us, things are going to get a lot bleaker. He’s offering hope, which is a dangerous drug to offer to a country that’s been craving it for eight years. If he doesn’t deliver on that, I think things are going to get bad.
But… I’m coming around to thinking that he will deliver, at least partially. I mean, you’re right: how could he not? Any improvement, however slight, is going to seem enormous when compared to what’s been going on since 2001.
Watching that video yesterday opened my eyes a bit about him, mainly because he was talking to a subset of people (imaginative Google peeps) who I feel/hope are very similar to me. Therefore, I felt kind of like he was talking to me. And that was the first time I found something that did that, that spoke to me on the issues I wanted to hear about (I probably just wasn’t looking hard enough).
Anyway, I’m rambling… Here’s what I think: people like me are going to come around, people who were on the fence to begin with. But hardcore Hillary people still need to be appeased. And all of the Obama people need to recognize that. We (Liberals, Democrats, and all Americans with common sense) can’t win this thing without the support of the people who supported Hillary. Now, does that mean she should the VP? Well, I think she would be a good choice, but I suppose I’m in the minority. We’ll see.
Anyway, thanks for having this discussion with me, Beth. It’s good to talk about this stuff. I’m learning a lot and look forward to learning more.
beth says:
i think it would be great if hillary was the VP, but i don’t think it’ll happen—and i can’t say i’d blame her if she didn’t want to be publicly subordinate for the next 4-8 years to the man who defeated her.
honestly, when you get right down to it, there’s *nothing* save four more years of GWB that wouldn’t be an improvement. and i know what you mean about obama not delivering, how after the hope theme it would be a tough blow. but at least he’d be *trying* for the right things, is what i still maintain.
i started off as a hillary supporter, too. i was also coming from the ‘experience’ perspective. but as the campaign went on, i couldn’t help but feel like for obama, it was all about his ideas, while for clinton, it was all about her winning. what did she really stand for, besides whatever she thought would give her a boost in the polls? cf. the gas tax holiday, pandering to the racism of ‘blue collar’ voters in states like PA and WV… clinton went from anti-war drumbeater citing her 60’s activism to quasi-religious, down-home blue collar girl depending on what state she was in. try as i might, i could never really figure out what she really stood for, or if she really stood for anything beyond her own ambition.
thank YOU for being so willing to have a civil discussion on this matter! i appreciate you hearing my opinions and appreciate hearing yours.
ChrisClark says:
Very good points about Hillary. One thing that never happened for me while supporting her: I never felt as passionate about her as I saw others feeling passionate about Obama. I felt strongly that she was the better candidate for a long while, but I didn’t feel passionate about it. Obama supporters seem to be, by and large, pretty darned vocal and sure and, yeah, passionate.
ChrisClark says:
Side-note: I am really annoyed that my ad display system is showing John McCain attack adverts here. But I guess that’s bound to happen when its an article about Obama.
beth says:
of course he’s not going to deliver EVERYTHING he promises. he might never even get close. but in my mind, he’ll at least be headed in the right direction, with the right goals and the right ideas. any amount of success he has will go a long way toward reversing the damage of the last 8 years.