Audacity

Audacity

Dr. Larry Taylor

Barack Obama wrote a book called The Audacity of Hope, which, like his earlier Dreams from my Father, was number one on all the major book lists (and is still in the top ten), not because it is political propaganda composed by a ghost writer like most works of similar genre, but because it is highly intelligent and extremely well written, so much so as to appeal across the political spectrum.

Speaking of audacity, if it were anyone other than the Clintons, it would be impudent, laughable, and unthinkable for a candidate who has lost the popular vote and won less states and delegates than her opponent to have the gall to go into the party convention thinking she should be the nominee for president. At the very least, it highlights the nonpartisan arrogance so often on display in politics. Similar hubris was the nemesis of law and order, flag-waving Eliot Spitzer, the now disgraced former governor of New York. Like televangelists, some politicians get so full of themselves and carry such an exaggerated sense of self worth that they apparently see themselves as above the law, alpha pack leaders immune from consequences. Should Bill and Hillary succeed at twisting enough arms and making enough back room deals to persuade super delegates to ignore the votes of common people and anoint the second place candidate as nominee for the presidency, their shenanigans will be long remembered and will plunge the newly energized idealistic young voters into the cynicism of their elders.

It was the war in Vietnam that left many of my generation cynical for decades. I remember Eisenhower, but only through a child’s eyes as a bald guy who played golf. Kennedy was assassinated when I was in junior high, and the subsequent pageantry and criminal intrigue fascinated all of us, but I was still too young to personally experience the fresh hope that Kennedy inspired in so many of my elders. By vastly escalating the war without any effort to actually win it, Johnson was the nefarious ogre of all anti-war protestors in spite of his laudable efforts on behalf of civil rights; and even that had its unintentional fallout -- racist backlash resulted in a Republican south.

The cynicism that began for many of us during Vietnam and the Johnson administration, was fed by the vileness and corruption of Nixon. Gerald Ford, who seems like a pleasant chap, provided a bit of a respite, but before long, we had four years of anemic Carter paralysis and hand-ringing, then eight years of Reganomics benefitting the rich at the expense of the poor. Bush One steered the ship steadily in the same direction. Next we were treated to Bill Clinton, whose economic policies were as good as his personal moral life was reprehensible. Of late came Bush the Second, who will retire as the nation’s least popular president, having equally botched the domestic economy as well as foreign policy. Is it any wonder that a generation raised under these guys is cynical?

The divisiveness that began with Vietnam is amplified by the moral issues of the day. Absolutism has taken hold on both the left and the right. Either abortion is murder or it must be freely available to everyone, no questions asked. Genetic research must be allowed to run untrammeled, or it must be banned. Homosexuality is either an abomination or a God-given civil right. Either we shut down all progress or we rape the environment. We are at war with ourselves. There is no place for dialogue, only opportunity to scream and accuse.

Cynicism, coupled with lack of trust in politicians, is common across the political gamut. Vietnam divided us as a nation, and those divisions are still being played out by baby-boomers who supported the war and those who opposed it -- the former voting Republican because they do not trust centralized government, and the latter supporting Democrats as a hedge against warmongering. That divide is evident in McCain and Hillary -- he, the war-hero POW, she the protestor.

Along comes Barack Obama, a precocious erudite Gen X maverick with a fresh vision, with the (excuse the plagiarism) audacity to hope in a Washington where politicians of all persuasions civilly and intelligently debate, find areas of common understanding, and move forward promoting the values that virtually all Americans share -- responsibility, diligence, freedom from fear, the value of education, corporate fairness, an equitable health care system, an intelligent foreign policy, and responsible environmental stewardship.

Clintonians and McCain supporters alike dismiss that hope as naive because as politicians, it’s not the way they operate. But it was the way Washington operated throughout most of American history prior to Vietnam. Except for deeply imbedded racial issues, senators and representatives were friends, they treated one another, with notable exceptions, with respect, and sought common ground for the common good. When my ancestor James Taylor went to Annapolis to serve in the Maryland State Legislature after serving in the U. S. Army for 10 years and fighting in every major Civil War battle to end slavery, nearly all politicians were ordinary people who served for a couple of years before returning to their farms and stores. Career politicians were a rarity.

Along comes Barack Obama inspiring not only the young and his fellow African-Americans, but also white, formerly Republican baby-boomers like me. Here is an African-American man who genuinely can unite; a man who dispels cynicism and ignites passion; a man who has won, and likely will continue to win, the most states, the popular vote, and the most delegates. Yet, he is challenged by the Clinton machine that has controlled the Democratic party for two decades -- a machine that sarcastically says, “Get real” in response to Obama’s candidacy; a response that I think means that to the Clintons it is unthinkable that someone other than Hillary be president. It is a response that conveys that same arrogance and exaggerated sense of self worth.

It is also a paternalistic response. There is a strong paternalistic strain running through white baby-boomer liberals -- a paternalism that says in essence, “You need me to take care of you. You black people, you poor people, you Latinos, you immigrants, you working poor, you blue collar working guys, you 40 million folks without health insurance -- you need me. I am your Great White Father/Mother. I will protect and provide for you like I always have, so don’t go getting uppity and thinking you can improve things on your own.”

That paternalism is embedded deep in the liberal white baby-boomer conscious. There is no awareness of how condescending it is, and certainly not a hint of awareness that it is racist at a deep and disturbing level. One cannot accuse the Clintons or a Geraldine Ferraro of racism -- they spent years advancing the cause of racial equality, giving the black man (and woman) a deserved hand up after centuries of oppression.

The problem with Obama is that he’s up. He doesn’t need a hand. Yet paternalistic people like Ferraro and the Clintons cannot accept that. Like the woman in her sixties I recently saw reach across the table in a crowded restaurant to wipe crumbs from the mouth of her 35-40 year-old-son, they can’t let go, and so, having lost the primaries, they pursue the nomination by whatever means they can, even at the risk of alienating an entire generation. For them, being in control, being the parent, takes precedence over what is right.

©2008 by Lawrence Russell Taylor, PhD. All rights reserved worldwide.