The Audacity of Change

The results of the Iowa caucuses are in and Barack Obama is the winner and many Americans are elated that, for the first time in U.S. history, an African-American candidate has a serious chance to win the presidency.  At last, all is well in America—or is it?

Poll results recorded that “change” was the leading factor for voters who caucused with Obama in Iowa.  What kind of change?  According to Obama’s campaign website, he is the most qualified candidate to break the “status quo” of the partisan machine and bring the country together again.  But we know better.  Unfortunately, the American political system and the stewards who try to tame it unite in the form of a two-faced beast that always inevitably operates to preserve the “status quo.”  Rosy slogans like “Change We Can Believe In,” which the Obama campaign has engraved in the streets of Iowa, don’t hold their weight in the reality of American politics.

Every four years Americans optimistically hope for the best that their media-selected candidates have to offer, and every time they are disappointed.  Why?  The American people buy what the media sells them.  And, as previously stated, the media sells them the candidates that will sell newspapers, boost their websites’ traffic, and increase TV and radio ratings.  What accomplishes these objectives?  Telling the story—or forcing the story—of the underdog winning the highest office in the land; the underdogs being a woman, a black man, and a Hispanic man.

The pre-nomination campaigning in 2007 became pure fodder for the media who saw great potential in spotlighting the tales of a woman and black man, both millionaires by the way, who supposedly came out of nowhere against all odds to make history and effect change.  Who better to change America than a woman who has spent most of her public life preserving the institutions that the voters now reject?  And who better to change America than a one-half-term U.S. Senator with minimal government experience and qualifications that never quite exceeded the realm of academic theory?

Experienced candidates with near-immaculate records such as Joe Biden and Chris Dodd were tucked away into the periphery of the media’s circus chamber to make room for the history-making race between a black man and a woman.  More simply put, our optimistic hope for the best, most qualified candidates was supplanted with vacant novelty.  It sounds painfully similar to the lessons of previous elections which left us wondering why Americans who crave capable leaders ultimately decide to live in the moment and settle for the least experienced among us, like George W. Bush and Barack Obama.  Both of these politicians—yes, Barack Obama is a politician—carried the same messages of hope and change, and like Bush, Obama is destined to fail when trying to realize his promised ambitions.  If we truly desired change and action in this election, Iowans would have selected Democrat Dennis Kucinich and Republican Ron Paul, the two opposing candidates who stand for real, significant change in government.  Maybe we’re not really serious about change after all.

Experience does matter despite what Obama would have you believe.   Granted “the right experience” is preferred, but experience should never be substituted by the fallacy of good judgment.  Obama’s personal example of his “good judgment” that he opposed the Iraq War from the start and before he came to the Senate says nothing about how he would have voted under the extreme political pressure instigated by Republican senators back in 2003.  If that “good judgment” on the part of Obama delivered him success last night in Iowa, then Americans who support him are in for a surprise if he takes office next January.  Then and only then will we see his epic judgment put to the test in the real world and not whispered from the sidelines.  During his brief time in the Senate, Obama exercised his judgment by choosing to campaign in Iowa rather than perform his duties in Washington, namely missing the opportunity to vote for or against the resolution to declare Iran’s military a terrorist organization.

Change is not enough and Americans should not be taken in by insincere candidates who wield that clichéd line every four years.  George W. Bush delivered change and now Independents and a growing number of moderate Republicans regret eating the rhetoric the Texas Governor fed to them in 2000.  Has Obama truly expressed how he will change Washington D.C.?  No.  Chances are if Obama is elected president he won’t know where to get started.  Implementing change in government, whatever that change may be, is obsolete if you do not possess the tested judgment that comes from experience to get the job done right.  Hope and faith aren’t enough anymore.  Iowa has once again delivered to the Democrats the candidate we deserve:  an inexperienced, empty shell of a politician who will fail spectacularly to deliver his Change We Can Believe In.

My choice was Senator Joe Biden for many reasons, none of which matter at this point.  He is sincere, qualified, and he practices relatively excellent judgment in the Senate.  Let’s not forget that had this “election” not been a popularity contest, he would have easily won his party’s nomination and without doubt won the presidency.  But there are too many voters out there in the Democratic Party who like to live in the moment and “make history,” ultimately sacrificing the integrity of their party and country.

We will never get the change we are promised because we still substitute intelligence and reason with hope and faith.  But at least while we continue not getting things done in 2009 we’ll have made history with either the first female president or the first black president.  What the hell, let’s just get it out of the way now and nominate Oprah.  She could host a reality show from her sofa in the Oval Office and Americans could finally be at peace knowing that the country is in good hands at last.

I don't blame the media or the politicians anymore. I blame the people who never fail to vote for the worst among us.  I expected better from the Democrats.

Thank you, Joe Biden, for trying to break this cycle.  I will not be voting for any Democrats this year.