Letters to the Editor
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Barack had it. Michelle blew it. And for the moment at least, we are seriously screwed.
As my wife frequently notes, though they don’t have much money or power, and though they are only benchwarmers, her blue-collar sisters and their spouses can at least say they are part of the greatest team on earth. The USA.
Early on, Obama generated a surprising degree of enthusiasm among this mostly Catholic crowd. Though my academic friends bristled, Barack’s invocation of “American exceptionalism” – symbolized in his stump by the “only in America is my story possible” bit – struck these folks as appealing, and struck me as a frame that could counter the more jingoistic and militant invocations of the right.
But that all came crashing down when Michelle uttered the unfortunate phase, “for the first time in my life I’m really proud of my country.”
We can parse and contextualize, note that the word “really” is a significant qualifier, but I don't think one can exaggerate the damage this worm has done to the shiny apple that was Barack.
PA showed two things: One, a mere +10 delegates shows Clinton cannot win the nomination without a coup that will seriously alienate African-Americans and depress a new generation of sure to be life-long Democratic voters. And two, Obama cannot win the election unless he can recast himself as an option for blue-collar folk who, if they have nothing else, at least have a country they can root for.
Clinton’s solution is to act more Republican than Cheney, to promise to give a nuclear elbow to Iran if it messes with Israel. That proves to me she cannot lead a country that needs to be guided away from its unaffordable military footprint and its ridiculous imperialist fantasies.
Obama has better ideas. But unless he can get Michelle to offer an apology for her tone-deaf comments, as galling as I know that would be for a black girl from the South Side, come November it’ll be Bush III.