O bumma

I think people like Obama because he is the opposite of what they dislike. Bush is widely held to be the worst communicator ever seen in high office, which is an understandable conviction. Obama's melodious tone and soft, inclusive words are euphony writ large. Bush; anti-Bush. But that's exactly what the Brits did when they elected Gordon Brown. They danced on Tony Blair's grave, chanting Brown's name (as flames and ashes swirled about their heads) anointing the anti-Blair. Now they hate Brown even more than they hated Blair. Apparently being a non-entity is a good way to get elected, but a bad way to govern.

I am not a wonk on the candidates' policy platforms, but the bit I have read about Obama's makes me squirm. In fact Obama himself is a bit squirm-worthy. The guy has never worked in business (never had a conventional job as far as I can tell in Wikipedia, unless this qualifies), never been anywhere near the military (which is fine, but noteworthy on an otherwise long list of nevers), never been to Iraq (has, in fact, been dismissive of going to Iraq), never distinguished himself in his brief political career, is seemingly against free trade, has a long history of attending a church that is well outside the mainstream, and has a congressional voting record that is more liberal than any democratic presidential nominee since the 1960's. Goodbye euphony, hello cacophony.

As for being a pillar of hope for black Americans, a unifying force of something and something, etc., etc - why don't more people think like this?

Maybe what it boils down to is: with the world changing so rapidly, with China, India and Russia becoming so much more powerful, America will have a lot of challenges in the next several years - economic, military, social, pretty much the gauntlet, I suspect. Should the next president of the United States have a professional background in non-profit consumer advocacy?