It goes beyond a mere protest vote, Jim. Yes, Obama is part of the machine... there isn't a candidate who isn't. Elections are won by numbers- the US has a winner-take-all system- therefore, unless the electoral college system is completely overturned, we got what we got.
I find it depressing that the US system of politics is virtually indistinguishable sometimes from professional American Football... but this is somehow deeply ingrained into the body politic... what the hell can anyone do. Plenty of brilliant people have tried to make the system less bipolar, to some effect. Nothing transpires at the mere will of idealists.
The things Obama has going for him:
He's a very smart man (polar opposite of what we've got now),
He has the community organizing cred. Democrats have been woefully lame on that count while right-wing activism has been undeniably strong by comparison, perhaps this will tip the scales.
He's uncorrupted by personal or professional scandal (we'd have heard about it by now).
He gets a large demographic of formerly apathetic voters excited to participate in their own democracy (that by itself cannot be undervalued)
He doesn't have an evil shadowlord (Cheney) who's really running the show by proxy,
And he's a good communicator. He can explain complex issues without getting wonky. He doesn't resort to lowest-common-denominator apespeak, like GWB.
This election is going to either be the nail in the coffin or, or the revival of the American left and center. It all comes down to whether Obama loses or wins. If he loses, America is fucked. If he wins, America might just pull thru and save itself from the #$%& mess that it's made of itself.
I'm not a Pollyanna... I don't expect miracles, but I think you might be selling the man short by insisting that he's only good at keeping Sarah Palin out of the White House.
American politics sometimes seems like a rigged game, but a landslide victory for Obama will prove that the back-room kingmakers are not pulling the strings this time. It's going to take EVERYONE who can't stand the way the Republicans have fucked it up to get out and vote, tho.
If Obama gets a big enough margin, the bastards can't steal it, like they did the last two elections.
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