VP Dilemma

"Be careful that victories do not carry the seed of future defeats."

--Ralph W. Sockman--

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."

--Theodore Roosevelt--

"What is defeat? Nothing but education; nothing but the first step to something better."

--Wendell Phillips--

"You can take from every experience what it has to offer you. And you cannot be defeated if you just keep taking one breath followed by another."

--Oprah Winfrey--

It ain't over until the fat lady sings and she is not even clearing her throat. Barack Obama's campaign made a mistake when they allowed the thrill of victory to raise the expectations of a community, a state, and a nation to transform him from a challenger into a frontrunner. Now, we who are the supporters of Obama feel defeat in what should only be seen as a victory. That is not spin. It is fact. Obama is taking on a candidate with the resources and organization of a former two term president. He is in a fight with a juggernaut. The bottom line is that after the first caucus and primary where only a few delegates have been cast the veneer of invulnerability has been stripped from Hillary Clinton, the real frontrunner, which means Obama is in it to win it. But that is not why I am writing this article.

Bloomberg in New York may be the biggest Hillary fan on the planet right now because if she wins narrowly over Obama then things could get interesting. If the Clinton's lose, then there is no problem, but if they win there could be a problem if Obama continues to stay close. The Clinton's may have a problem in victory because there could be a backlash in the African-American community if the community feels that once again an African-American has been pushed aside. Barack Obama will not play the race card.  That is not who he is and how he conducts himself, but it may not matter.  He may not be able to stop the train of anger and mistrust once it is on the track and gathers steam. 

I am not just making this up. This was the prevailing sentiment of many of the callers on an African-American talk show in Chicago right after the results of the New Hampshire Primary was revealed. Even if this sentiment is only in Chicago, that could mean the difference between victory and defeat in Illinois. It is unlikely that any democrat can roll into the White House without winning Illinois. There was a lot of anger and mistrust. Does that mean that the anger and mistrust will continue if Obama loses? Who knows, but at least I can say I was the first to mention it.

However, I do not think it will be an issue because I think Obama still has a great chance to get the nomination. The difference between victory and defeat for Obama will be how well he is able to circumvent the Clinton machine and appeal directly to the voters. I think New Hampshire was a wake up call for Obama. Now the work begins.

Comments

[clacclac]

Obama has shown his self well. He is a reasonable man. I believe his goal was to make hiself viable in the presidental realm. Now he can go large and put forth concerns of a wide group.