Hello Superdelegate!
I am actually not as alarmed as many people seem to be about the superdelegate factor. Between going door-to-door and lobbying Congress and knowing some local officials, I know that we are all human beings and all possess the capacity to act from a hopeful place inside of us, or from a fearful one. I think you can’t be involved in progressive politics without having a foundational belief that things can really get better. But I think this belief can be buried under layers of disappointment and cynicism, as it was for me.
I was born in 1964. Most of the people who would later become my political heroes were killed before I even knew who they were. Almost every election of my life, I have voted for the lesser of two evils, or at the very least settled for someone perhaps quantifiably “qualified” but uninspiring. This constant state of disappointment eventually left me dispirited, and I “checked out” of political involvement, until 2004 when I realized that I needed to do something about the Bush administration. Even then, I was not walking for a candidate, but to root out a diseased administration. As always… damage control.
This is the first time in my life I have been fundamentally lifted up by a candidate for the presidency. I didn’t decide on Barack Obama until about a week before our primary. Hillary Clinton is highly qualified and would make an excellent president, and the subconscious sexism underlying the Republican hate campaign against her galls me to no end. But compared to a candidate who is not only qualified, intelligent, and good on policy, but also inspiring on a level many of us have never seen before, voting for her would have been settling again. And in the deepest part of me I feel that nominating anyone but Barack Obama would break the heart and the spirit of the American people. I really do. We need him. The potential for healing this country is phenomenal: African Americans are feeling respected like never before, young people are getting involved because they see someone who finally speaks clearly to what they as untarnished souls know is possible, and even the red-blue divide is breaking down around this man. I stood outside of a polling place on February 5th and actually had Republicans walk up to me and tell me that if Obama got the nomination they would vote for him. Three or four of them, of their own volition. No kidding.
But this is not an argument for a favored candidate as much as it is a respectful request that the principle of democracy be upheld in our party. I understand that in its highest purpose the superdelegate element of the nominating process may perhaps act as the “voice of reason” to keep the passions of the people from sweeping an improbable or unelectable candidate into the nomination purely based on charisma or star appeal. I have two answers to this possible argument. First, Obama is highly electable – various polls have shown him to be more popular among Republicans and Independents than Clinton. He is also highly qualified. The only argument any opposition has had against him is that he has not spent as much time in Washington as the others. Because he was busy fighting in the Illinois legislature to make federal promises come true on the state level. I think this makes him more qualified.
For the second part of my response, I’m going to have to draw on Plato. Please forgive me, but the old guy was pretty wise about human nature, and our Founders seemed to think so too. (My political reawakening in 2004 inspired me to go back to school and study political theory – I am in my last semester now.) In Book IV of the Republic Socrates found reason and passion to be allies against capricious decisions based on fleeting factors like appetite and addiction. Passion can actually be very reasonable. And I think this is what we are seeing in the movement behind Obama’s candidacy. We are passionate about this candidate because we know what’s good for us – as individuals, as a nation, and as a planet. This passion more resembles the passion of Tom Paine than that of a Britney Spears fan. The exciting thing is that it’s happening in the Britney fans too! We all love our country.
I feel Barack Obama represents me not so much on policy (all of the candidates are too conservative for me, really,) but in a certain spirit I wish to embody myself. I think we call it the American spirit. For me, it’s the idea of our “improvability” through participation in the democratic process – that the very self-evident truths this nation was founded on provide a basis for the ongoing creation of a more humane and just society. I can tell you that even listening to the respectful, honoring, and positive tone and language of Obama’s speeches has inspired me to greater integrity in my own speaking, writing, and interaction. His candidacy has improved me. I want this man to represent me, and this country I am so proud of, in the world community.
I think John McCain’s little-publicized strength is in a certain integrity of character that he projects. He has stood against torture, and for electoral integrity. I think that any wide appeal he might find would not be based on policies as much as character. The Democrats need someone with a similar strength, and Barack Obama has this in a depth that even McCain’s political advisor Mark McKinnon refuses to contest.
I know this is a long letter, and I appreciate your time. I am sure you will do what is best for our country and our planet.
