We're Smarter Than They Think We Are

We being the public, the average Joe or Jane, the voting public in particular. They being the so-called power brokers, the media, the talking heads, the self-acknowledged experts. If this primary election season is teaching us something, and I believe we are learning alot about ourselves and our society, what we are and what we are capable of becoming, one message that is coming through loud and clear is that the elites do not have the pull they may once have had.

Political endorsements have become nearly meaningless, whether they come from elected officials, respected newspapers, talk-radio demagogues, or Hollywood celebrities. The one exception may be Oprah, who because of her authenticity is someone people can relate to and admire in an otherwise gilded age. But more on authenticity in a future column. The people are speaking, and by voting in large numbers for Barack Obama on the left and John McCain on the right, they are saying that the establishment no longer controls the agenda. I have a great deal of admiration for Hilary Clinton, I have no such feeling for Mitt Romney or Rudy Guiliani, yet what all of these figures have in common is that they are strongly backed by the traditonal power brokers, financially and otherwise, yet they have not been annointed by the only power brokers that really matter in our democracy, the voters who show up at the polls. Obama and McCain are outsiders, the latter a noted maverick and demonized by the traditional figureheads of the conservative movement, the former is a relative newcomer to the national stage who lacks the connections and name recognition normally associated with someone who is becoming tantalizingly close to winning the nomination of his party. This is a positive development for our politics and for our society, which has become very cynical in the last few decades since the idealism and hope of the 60's waned with the Vietnam and Watergate eras.

Black people were told that they should support Clinton, because after all, her husband Bill is considered to be the first black president. Nevermind that he never really did much of anything to improve life for Blacks, with the noted exception of welfare reform that he ushered through with the backing of the Republican led Congress. Blacks were told that Obama wasn't black enough, that they shouldn't support him as a result. To their credit, they haven't listened to the pundits and have voted their conscious and their hearts, which is not such a bad way to vote by the way.

Whites were told they weren't ready for a Black president. The country is still too racist, it will never happen said the experts. Yet in Iowa, possibly the second whitest state in the union after Utah, Mr. Obama inspired and won. He continues to do well throughout the Midwest in states with heavy White populations, as well as in the South in states with heavy Black populations. If he can win in Texas, a state with a large Latino population, he will likely wrap up the nomination and cause Clinton to slam her trunk shut and head back to the Senate, where she has an important role to play with both the Democratic party and the nation as a whole.

And let's not leave out our conservative friends, and they are and should be friends. We are all on the same side here after all, yet again the topic for a future column. Conservatives were told that they can't support John McCain because he doesn't pass the right-wing litmus test. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, James Dobson, all of the gurus of the modern conservative movement bashed McCain and backed his rivals. Yet here he stands on the precipice of joining Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater as outsiders who made it to the big dance. Granted, McCain has fallen more into line with Republican orthodoxy, but he is still much more independent minded than the rest of the field that he has lapped. Only a pesky Mike Huckabee stands in his way at this point, and it seems likely that once the last notch on the bible belt is filled, his dance card will be too and the nomination will be a done deal.

Questions remain, such as will Latinos figure out what many Blacks already have, namely that the Clintons impact on their lives has been greatly overrated? Will fiscal conservatives realize that the GOP has long since abandoned them and the values that they stand for? Will anti-war liberals be able to ignore the irresponsible fringe members of their movement and stay focused on bringing about real change and not be derailed by all of the 9/11 conspiracy and anti-Bush hubris that pollutes the internet? Stay tuned, it figures to be an interesting ride, but hope springs eternal, hope that the people will utilize the power that our founders gave us, for the betterment of our political system, of our nation, and of our society.