Entertainment and the humanizing of our candidates

I have to confess my support of the Obama-Biden ticket. But also I have to confess that I had, until very recently, been (naughtily) expressing overly antagonistic, frightened opposition to the McCain-Palin ticket. Now, if you have read my earlier blogs, you know that I think that acting out heatedly as I have been (even if only in my own mind, or by venting my spew to sympathetic others) is a sign of really bad marksmanship and unresolved issues. Still, I was delighting in displacing my anger and worries onto McCain and Palin, and I was stuck in my ardent disability to understand why anyone would favor them. Shame on me. Then along comes the more entertainment-oriented end of media. First, in terms of what really hit my radar, there was a lovely video by prominent performers on getting out to vote, regardless of position. Second, there was coverage of the dinner at which John McCain and Barak Obama roasted each other. Watching Senator McCain’s reactions to Senator Obama’s roast was delightful. I giggle still. Although I must admit that I immediately had a lousy night’s sleep worrying that if people feel warmer toward Mr. McCain, as I did after that show, then how would they choose Senator Obama? Panick-driven, because ideally we will choose our candidates on issues and on the basis of our estimation of their ability to do the job not on them being cool or one of the guys (or gals). Next, there was a lovely spoof on several of the candidates by JibJab that helped me realize at least one aspect of Senator Obama that causes opposing viewpoint folks to feel as violently against him as I had been feeling against McCain. Finally, along comes the Saturday Night Live appearance of Governor Sarah Palin. Wow. That took guts and a sense of humor on her part! For those humanizing events, I thank our free media, and I thank all our candidates. I am still pro-Obama-McCain, but I am at last, per my prescription to ourselves, freed of a large measure of the burden of worrying against McCain-Palin. I breathe a sigh of happiness and humor thinking maybe things will, somehow, turn out alright either way.

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

Sour Power? Or Wow-her Power? On Bill Clinton “not really” knowing Barak Obama

In an interview on Meet The Press a couple weeks ago, former President Clinton was generous in positive remarks about Senator McCain, but said nothing about Senator Obama. When asked about his relationship with Senator Obama, former President Clinton said that he didn’t “really know Senator Obama” having “only met with him on two occasions. Well, come on now, something is amiss here. At first glimpse, one might think it’s that former President Clinton is miffed that Senator Obama has not reached out more to him. That could be. Perhaps former President Clinton is that testy about lack of recognition. But more important, I suspect, is Bill’s following of the biological imperative that a man must protect his woman. Perhaps, being a devoted husband (cynics, hush) he hadn’t yet gotten his hackles down over Hillary’s defeat in the run for the Democratic nomination. Perhaps he is acting out the disgruntlement for both of them, while Hillary carries on in full support of Mr. Obama. That sort of dynamic is typical between couples everywhere. One partner is more easily upset and more likely to stay upset, the other is more unflappable and quickly adaptable. Mr. Clinton appears to be the more self-expressive partner, and hence the one likely to show his upset-ness, even if only in the relatively passive form of simply failing to make much mention of Mr. Obama. Mrs. Clinton appears to be the more self-controlled partner, and hence the one more able to suck it up and carry on with sports-womanly good conduct. Bill’s upset-ness, therefore, is lovely to behold, and a testament to his partnership with Hillary … despite, and even in part because of, the thick and thin they’ve gone through.

 

Read Full Post »