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The single best campaign video I’ve ever seen in my life. Perhaps one of the best anything I’ve seen. Seriously, it’s worth watching no matter who you support, simply as a reminder of what an astonishing world we live in, and how much we have to be thankful for.
I know a few words don’t make a campaign, and I know it’s not enough to just believe that things can be better…but sometimes I wonder if we give our smarter, more realistic, more jaded selves too much power. Sometimes I wonder if we pay too much attention to to the nitpicky details and don’t leave ourselves vulnerable to being moved. Bright, shining eyes and bold smiling faces alone do not make a movement – it takes a lot of nitty-gritty, down and dirty work. But a movement is not a movement without a dream, an ideal that binds it together, and lifts us up.
I believe in a world that is better than this one. I believe in the dream. And, in some ways, I can only believe in it when I know it’s impossibly vague, even a little naive. We will of course have to settle, to negotiate, to count votes and compromise our ideals. It does always come back to that – and I wouldn’t support Obama if I didn’t think he could do the hard work when it becomes necessary – but just for a little while, in some way, I think we all want, we all need, to feel part of something bigger than ourselves.
And so my support for Obama is not really a vote for him as an individual. It’s a vote for a way of thinking, a style of belief and hope that is so often left out of our politics.
One of my all-time favorite lyrics is from a Mighty Mighty Bosstones song: “Our Only Weapon.”
Maybe we’re being too naive
But this is something we believe
What’s beyond belief is just how much is wrong
I love it because it reflects a hopeless idealism that I think represents the best in all of us. Our capacity to love without fear, to live in truth, to hope against hope…these are the things that make us good.
To be sure, I recognize that it’s all a show. Obama is simply a man, full of faults, with far less idealistic policies than rhetoric. And I know that it would be foolish to expect a sea change in our politics. Personality-driven movements may begin with the noblest of goals, but all too often those things get lost on the wayside.
I know all these things, and yet, there is still a part of me that insists “just try to believe.” And in a race with two candidates, both of whom would be wonderful presidents, who support virtually identical agendas, who will fight for the American people, for Democratic values, and for democratic values, it’s enough for me. Maybe it’s a salve on my conscience, but I can’t help but want to hold out hope that yes, we can make a difference. That yes, we can find the strength. That yes, we can find it in ourselves to believe in a world worth saving.
Our Only Weapon – The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Say Yes – Elliott Smith
If We Can Land a Man on the Moon, Surely I Can Win Your Heart – Beulah
You Still Believe in Me – The Beach Boys