Posted by JumpyPants
Barack Obama is the best candidate that I have seen in my lifetime, which takes us back to the mid-sixties. Does that mean he will be the best president? Normally, I'd say that wasn't a direct corollary; that's like saying the best auditioner is the best actor, and we know that ain't true. But I think in Senator Obama's case it is extremely likely.
But back to the candidate thing. Think about it: not only did he defeat the greatest living brand in Democratic politics in a complete, come-from-behind-upset, he is just battering the crap out of a guy who until a few months ago was considered the ideal candidate for independents.
Some would suggest this is a remarkable feat given the fact that the Senator is of mixed ethnicity, some of it African. But I would suggest his success is precisely because of this fact. His actions today are the result of the life he has lived; he is an amazing candidate because he is an extraordinary man, one who has made every potential debit into an asset. He is truly our most American of candidates. He makes me proud to be one. An American, that is.
UPDATING: To clarify, it is because Obama has spent most of his life being treated as "the other", that he has had to endure all that accompanies having darker skin in our culture, all that accompanies being the child of a single mother, all that accompanies having a sister with a different last name, all that accompanies having a "foreign-sounding" name -- it is because of all that he has had to face, and the way he has chosen to face it, to turn the division outside and within into the opportunity for greater union, outside and within, it is because of this precise reality he has crafted himself that he is able to endure the lies, the baseless taunts, the racism, the hatred, the name calling, the "that one" shit.
And following up from the comments, I think Constancerifle is correct: this irrational hatred toward/fear of Obama is all about the other, and I would suggest that all these people really fear is "the other" that exists within themselves.
UPDATE THE SECOND: Over six-hundred years ago, the great Buddhist teacher Nichiren Daishonin wrote to one of his followers:
When great evil occurs, great good will follow.
I would submit to you that with Senator Obama following President Bush, the words of Nichiren are prophetic.