OBAMA COULD GET TO THE PROMISED LAND

As a former heavily leaning supporter of Hillary Clinton for President, I have to admit that I'm a Johnny come lately to the Barack Obama bandwagon.  However, better late than never.  When Obama gave his victory speech after his big wins on Super Tuesday, I too was inspired.  I too believe that Obama can become President of these United States and unite the country or in the least take us to a plateau that we have never been.  More than any of the other candidates, Obama really does represent change.  Obama can get to the promised land.

I still think that Hillary Clinton would also make a good President.  She is smart, confident and quick on her feet.  I think that she did acquire experience being in the White House with Bill for eight years.  I for one think that the Clinton years were a period of prosperity for the U.S. and also a time of relative peace.  And there is also the experience Hillary has gained in the U.S. Senate. 

On the flip side, Hillary is tied too closely with the past.  It's a past when Democrats and Republicans cannot collaborate for the common good.  It's a time of gridlock.  It's a time when poll numbers mean more than the poor.  It's a time when winning trumps common sense. It's a time when the desire to win will allow you to turn your back on old friends. 

Hillary and Bill did the unthinkable when they themselves went to the Republican playbook and pulled out the Southern Strategy of race baiting. With that decision, Hillary Clinton forfeited the right to be called an agent of change, but deserved to be held accountable. Before the race-baiting, Black voters were torn between Hillary and Barack.  However, Obama's victories in the South where he received 8 of 10 Black votes that were casted, showed that Black people are torn no longer.

Black voters have reacted to the Clinton's Southern Strategy like jilted lovers.  Like a jilted lovers, although you still may love the person and truly want and need to get past the hurt, the offense festers and the angrier you get.  That's the situation for Black voters right now, mad as hell. Mad enough in fact to embrace Obama and be optimistic enough to think that the future is now.

Barack Obama can be another John F. Kennedy or a Martin Luther King, Jr.  Both men were young, both men dared to make a difference and both men left lasting legacies of having inspired a nation to do great things.  I think that Obama is in that favored stratosphere.  We can only hope that if Obama is the Democratic nominee, that Republicans will not attempt to divide the electorate along racial lines.  Oh I forgot, the Clintons have already done the GOP that favor.

Sidebar:  Think about it.  If Hillary Clinton wins the presidency without strong support from the Black community, she will be free to govern from the center and start on Day 1, running for re-election (yes re-election) without the obligation of serving as an advocate for what commentator Tavis Smiley calls the "Convenant with Black America".