Today is Monday and I’m feeling lethargic.
It’s a week and a day away from primary elections here and, I believe, across the river in Missouri. To date I have seen one and only one campaign add. I should probably count my blessings.
I would think that Illinois would be a prize that the candidate would find worth fighting for, but for all I know, poll numbers indicate the results are already set. The other possibility is that while Illinois is worthwhile, maybe Missouri is not. I live in the St. Louis media market, and that may be why silence pervades.
In any case, the sole ad I’ve seen is for Obama, and honestly I found it unpersuasive. Obama’s message is that “Washington is broken.” Implicitly, electing Obama would change that somehow, because, like, you know, Obama is not a politician. Or maybe he thinks the candidate who preaches such a populist sermon would be able to avoid partisanship? Maybe he thinks the lobbyists (which should not ALWAYS be a bad word) will pack up and go home? Maybe his election means that Congress would stop putting pork in its bills. Maybe the Obama Presidency will be the point where the elected stop worrying about being re-elected when making their decisions?
Maybe Obama is full of shit.
He could just figure the electorate is dumb or at least the electorate he’s targeting. That would be odd considering his intellectually liberal reputation and his alumnus. From my studies back in college, I know that the last Outsider candidate elected to the Presidency was Jimmy Carter. We all know how well he did; his inability or unwillingness to work the system meant he was always fighting it and that got nothing done.
Odd legacy to chase, isn’t it?
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