I gotta admit:
Sarah Palin threw me for a loop. Actually, that Sarah Palin worked for about 10 days threw me for a loop. What little faith I had in America practically disappeared. It was surreal watching how this phenomenon manifested. All the Black folks I know were just profoundly sad, while White liberals got furious and a lil crazy.
But it was over something very real (though we never really talked about it ahemraceandgenderahem). People were fooled by Palin. People – gasp – even liked her.
Now that the Palin bounce is over — supposedly, as I don't fully trust polls because you can't really poll race — I can take time to reflect a bit and pull it together.
And then I stumbled across this post on Huffington Post that gives me a bit of hope:
There is a consistent story out of the Obama campaign. It goes like this: an attack is launched by one of his opponents. The attack appears to be working. Poll numbers change. A gap widens, or narrows. Dismay starts to surface as the candidate and his closest advisors don't seem to be doing anything. Eventually, there is a meeting, or a conference call. Suggestions of how to respond come in thick and fast. Voices clamor to be heard. Then, through the noise comes this directive, "Okay, let's everybody just calm down. Here's what we're going to do." The conversation quickly goes from clamorous to orderly, from strident to strategic, and the campaign moves forward. Since Iowa, remember Iowa!?, this has been happening. Yet it seems that with each new punch thrown by the opposition, his most avid supporters, especially those on the chattering Left who supposedly know better, seem to forget… that Barack Obama is GOOD AT THIS.
This is all true, methinks. And though the quite rational Black person in me knows that I should could blog a response to Roderick about that little thing (ahemraceahem) that throws wrenches into all that he is saying, at least for today, I'm gonna be a bit optimistic and try to have the faith that he has in America, swing voters, and Obama.
