As you may have become aware, we have an election coming up in this most woefully misgoverned State in the Union. In a rare occurrence, New Yorkers have the ability to cast a meaningful vote in a contested Democratic primary, a novel experience in a state where the Democratic Party usually doesn't offer up much by the way of choices. Nor do we, in the normal course of events, get to do more than ratify the choice made by other states; this time, things are different.
There are several candidates running in this Presidential primary. First, obviously, there is Hillary Clinton, New York's junior Senator and former First Lady of the United States. Senator Clinton is an accomplished legislator, whom many of her constituents know as a provider of excellent constituent services, a wonk's wonk, a supremely intelligent and able political animal, with a depth of experience that bodes well for a possible Clinton administration. She is also, significantly, the first viable female Presidential candidate.
Then, there is John Edwards, the former Senator from North Carolina, who has made the class struggle his issue. This is good and worthwhile, even noble; but Senator Edwards' message has simply not resonated with the electorate to a degree that he can be said to have a realistic shot at the nomination. Americans tend not to vote for people who ask us to think about things we'd rather not think about, and more's the pity.
And then, there is Barack Obama, the junior Senator from Illinois. The Daily Gotham endorses Barack Obama, for a number of reasons.
First, we do so because on the most significant issue of the day, Obama was right, long before anyone else running was. His principled opposition to the Iraq War, before that became commonplace and carried real political risk, speaks both to his courage and his judgment.
Second, Barack Obama has that most rare of political gifts: he is creating excitement about public service in an entirely new generation. For New Yorkers quietly discouraged by the ossified, geriatric state of our politics, by the daily slog through the mire that is our system of government, Obama offers hope that it must not remain thus. It is not insignificant in this context that New York's Democratic machine has to a man (and woman) endorsed the favorite daughter.
Third, Barack Obama's policy agenda, and his sense of hope, has won him the enthusiastic support of icons as disparate as Larry Lessig and Edward Kennedy. Obama has, again, shown courage to go up against some of our sacred cows, even though there was an obvious price to pay for that in a Democratic primary. For example, his remarks on the comparative impact of the Reagan and Clinton Presidencies may not have been something that we wanted to hear; but it was something that we needed to hear.
Fourth, the nation is screaming at the top of its lungs for one simple thing: change. After a generation of more or less conservative governance, it's time for a departure to different shores. This can't be achieved with a return to the nineties. It won't be achieved with the team that led us in the nineties. Back to the future was a charming movie; as a political agenda, it is narrow and stale. Nor is it without meaning that future historians might see in our history books a Presidential procession that merely veered between two families; we are not, not yet, a country that tolerates the contested monarchy as its system of government.
Fifth, the last few weeks have shown the Clintons in a far less than flattering light. The thinly disguised race-baiting has already created deep fissures in the Democratic Party. This is unworthy of us; New Yorkers might have recalled the bitter 2001 Democratic primary in the midst of it all, when we handed City Hall over to the republicans at the end of a comparably hostile primary. We can't afford that again.
And lastly, a very simple observation: Barack Obama makes us proud to be American. We like that feeling.
On February 5th, we'll be voting for him, and we hope you do as well.
