Memo to Pundits: the Change Obama Offers is Cultural

June 3, 2008

Political pundits from the right and the left assume that passionate Obama-supporters are thoughtless creatures, lulled and drawn by a pied piper, and oblivious to the microtargeted campaign machinery that has mesmerized and even victimized us. Implicit in this assumption is the notion that, in order actively support Obama’s candidacy, one must necessarily be stupid or otherwise blinded to its flaws.

It is easy to understand the use of the obamamaniac/cult label from the right. But from the left, the marginalization of fervent Obama-supporters is more troubling. Because the “obamamaniac” stigma is applied to all active supporters of the Obama campaign, regardless of one’s individual reasons for such participation, the only sure way to avoid the label is to cease participation. This is a strange message to send to a group of mostly young adults who, for better or worse, represent the future of the Democratic party. Derided for years for being apathetic, we are now scorned for caring too much.

Speaking for myself and a circle of active Obama-supporters with whom I associate, let me make a few things clear: we know that the office of the president is not built to bring about true political change. We understand that, as a matter of projected policies, there is a negligible difference between Hillary and Obama. We know that Obama is in many ways a typical politician, that he relies on money and media, and that with such reliance comes problematic obligations. We are also aware that the Obama campaign has very consciously targeted us with branding and other forms of marketing. We do not view Obama as a savior.

While we are under no illusion that Obama will immediately bring dramatic political change, we do believe that he can trigger—maybe already has triggered—desperately needed cultural change. This is why we don’t need to hear any policy specifics when he talks about change. The guy is Black. He is young and liberal. He was honest about his prior drug use. And he actually engages America when he speaks. Regardless of the nuances of his policies, his presidency would signal, we believe, a geological shift in America’s cultural identity. Which is exactly what we need. It is our culture, after all, that has spawned this shittyass political climate, not the other way around.

–Mark

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Posted in Uncategorized