Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The Hope-bug. . .

So, I haven't posted on this blog for months. I am pretty intimidated by it. I don't really write in a manner that I deem appropriate for a blog of this nature, and I am certainly not as eloquent as Cindy or Angie. I posted something over at Ain't That Sherific today that I thought I would share here. . .

Anyhoo, I've been out of touch. I decided to open the laptop today and check out some regular reads . . . what I saw was a few tabs open from the hubby. He had been following a string of comments over at a blog that I sometimes frequent. I was curious and I got sucked in. The argument was from a Clinton supporter and was uber-bashing Obama.

When I woke this morning at 4:00 it was playing on my mind. Robert and I had talked about it last night. Certain things in her argument had rubbed me the wrong way. I would link to the post and talk about my arguments, but that's not what this post is about. . . so hold on. I told Robert that I couldn't really grasp her argument because I felt it was totally and completely bitter and arrogant. She was playing cards that I really didn't agree with. Had we been playing euchre, I would've asked for anther partner. He said that it was nearly the same argument that he found all over the pro-Clinton blogs. . .

I laid in bed for an hour or so this morning (I cherish my sleep, usually I squeeze every last minute I can out of he alarm clock) turning it over and over in my head. Then I decided to come downstairs and check it out. Sure enough, most of what I deemed malarky that she was spewing was on each and every site I visited. It was as though this was a talking-points memo from the HRC campaign. Bitterness ensued everywhere I went. Anger spewed.

My point? Oh yeah, I need to have one of those. . . My point is that in my little sweep of the blog-o-sphere confirmed for me what I was pondering in bed. Obama supporters that I have met in real life and on this infernal machine have one thing that Hillary supporters don't. Hope. I know, I know some of the blogs I read sarcastically call Senator Obama "Mr. Hope" and mock him, but that IS what he inspires. It is exactly the opposite from the HRC (Hillary Rodham Clinton) supporters that I have read this morning. (I know not everyone so don't get your panties in a bunch, but I will say MAJORITY) They are content to bash Obama and sound bitter and ugly and arrogant. They seem angry. They seem, dare I say it . . . bitchy.

It really is a pretty striking difference if you look. It is not ALL that way. There are some hopeful and positive HRC supporters and some angry, bitter Obama supporters, but the majority of what I found, did support my argument this morning. It seemed pretty telling to me.
I was one of those people that saw Obama's speech to the Convention in 2004 and said, "He will be our first black president." He inspired. He has hope. He thinks it is possible to lift America back to where it once was before Bush got a hold of it. I am pessimistic by nature. I'm not certain it can be done. I think maybe the damage done to our country and our reputation is far too much. Maybe we are in a downward spiral that cannot be reversed. Having a presidential nominee say that "we can do it" isn't new. But when Barack Obama says it I can believe it. Why? Because you can see that HE believes it. That, my friends, is inspirational. Maybe that's why I haven't seen the same extent of Hillary bashing on Obama sites as I have Obama bashing on Hillary ones. We have hope. We have positive vibes for change. We have what our candidate has, apparently it is catchy. . .
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3 Comments:

Blogger Angie said...

Excellent post Sheri. You should not be intimidated at all. You're a thoughtful person and very articulate. I love reading your blog. I agree with what you're saying. I see this a lot too around the internet. It's frustrating and I have to try to keep my keyboard mouth shut... That's tough sometimes. In real life, I am thankful that the Hillary supporters I know are NOT spewing anger. They are excited that the Dems are experiencing such an historical election year. And of course, while we support different candidates right now, we can have decent conversations about why we support who we do and concede that the real fight will be to keep McCain out of office. And yes, I'm a hopemonger too. I've NEVER been inspired like this by someone running for public office in my adult life. I totally agree with you that I can believe in a hopeful future because Barack believes we can achieve better things in the future AND I think he believes in US. It's obviously made a HUGE difference.

8:58 AM, April 16, 2008  
Blogger John Good said...

Sheri - Great job! Obviously, I attack HRC almost daily. The diff between me and the Clintonistas is that I have facts to back everything that I post. . .

9:31 PM, April 16, 2008  
Blogger cindy said...

So glad you posted this....I feel exactly the same way. I think there's a fundamental difference between the 'average' Obama supporter and 'average' She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named supporter. And that is the way they deal with the anger we all feel at the present administration.

One side choses to fall back on the known, the dirty game. The other side has the AUDACITY to move past all that, and reach for something higher. I hope someday soon the press will notice that while one candidate continually tries to dig and throw dirt, the other candidate ALWAYS chooses the high road. The opportunity for Obama to simply pick off the ground the garbage surrounding his opponent is ALWAYS passed by in favor of moving the dialogue to things that matter.

Thanks for posting!

3:14 PM, April 19, 2008  

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