Dashing for Daylight

In the New York Times, Maureen Dowd takes about the current split in the Democratic party - between those dashing from the darkness and those embracing it. An excerpt:

Hillary Clinton denounced Dick Cheney as Darth Vader, but she did not absorb the ultimate lesson of the destructive vice president: Don’t become so paranoid that you let yourself be overwhelmed by a dark vision…

Darkness seeking darkness. It’s an exhausting specter, and the reason that Tom Daschle, Ted Kennedy, Claire McCaskill and so many other Democrats are dashing for daylight and trying to break away from the pathological Clinton path. “I think we should never be derisive about somebody who has the ability to inspire,” Senator McCaskill told David Gregory on MSNBC on Tuesday. “You know, we’ve had some dark days in this democracy over the last seven years, and today the sun is out. It is shining brightly. I watch these kids, these old and young, these black and white, 20,000 of them, pour into our dome in St. Louis Saturday night, and they feel good about being an American right now. And I think that’s something that we have to
capture.”

Hillary’s strategist Mark Penn argued last week that because the voters have “very limited information” about Obama, the Republican attack machine would tear him down and he would lose the support of independents. Then Penn tried to point the way to negative information on Obama, just to show that Obama wouldn’t be able to survive Republicans pointing the way to negative information…

Better the devil you know than the diffident debutante you don’t. Better to go with the Clintons, with all their dysfunction and chaos - the same kind that fueled the Republican hate machine - than to risk the chance that Obama would be mauled like a chew toy in the general election. Better to blow off all the inspiration and the young voters, the independents and the Republicans that Obama is attracting than to take a chance on something as ephemeral as hope. Now that’s Cheney-level paranoia…

The relentless Hillary has been the reticent Obama’s tutor in the Political School for Scandal. He is learning how to take a punch and give one back. When she presents her mythic narrative, the dragon she has slain is the Republican attack machine. Obama told me he doesn’t think about mythic narratives, and Tuesday night in Chicago he was reaching up for “a hymn that will heal this nation and repair the world.”

But, if he wants to be president, he will still have to slay the dragon. And his dragon is the Clinton attack machine, which emerged Tuesday night, not invincible but breathing fire.

Diverse Appeal

This week, Barack Obama received a number of Congressional endorsements. What's particularly telling is that they cover such a wide spectrum of individuals - from old-school California liberals to political mavericks to Midwestern moderates - who represent diverse segments of the electorate. The common appeal is represented in their statements.

Rep. George Miller (Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee): "I've watched both campaign and I know both candidates and I believe Obama offers us an opportunity to truly change the way we do business in Washington."

Former Sen. Bill Bradley (Former New Jersey Senator, Presidential Candidate, and NBA Hall of Famer): "Barack Obama is building a broad new coalition that brings together Democrats, independents and Republicans by once again making idealism a central focus of our politics. Because of his enormous appeal to Americans of all ages and backgrounds, Obama is the candidate best positioned to win in November. ... His movement for change could create a new era of American politics — truly a new American story."

Sen. Kent Conrad (Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee): "He is somebody that brings people together. He unites rather than divides, and I think that‘s very important for the country right now... He has the unusual ability to inspire and to lift people to be better. ... That is a rare skill, and I think something that‘s much needed."

Sen. Tim Johnson (Senior Senator from South Dakota): “He is bipartisan and insists on bridging the difference between parties.”

Sen. John Kerry (2004 Democratic Presidential Candidate): "Since the birth of our nation change has been won by young presidents and young leaders who have shown that experience is not defined by time in Washington and years in office it is defined by wisdom and instinct and vision ... The only charge that rings false is the one that tells you not to hope for a better America. Don't let anyone tell you to accept the downsizing of the American dream."