Where goes the march for change?

By Cary Brunswick
The Daily Star (Oneonta, N.Y.)

Tue, May 13 2008

— Poor Hillary. It’s her historical moment but it wasn’t supposed to be like this.
Such variables. Such a struggle.
With a regal touch, she was supposed to breeze through the early primaries and have the nomination sewn up by now. After all, for months, as the front-runner, political life followed the script she had worked years to write.
But even as all the experts and pundits were predicting that Clinton was unstoppable in her march to the nomination, something obviously was amiss. And not necessarily with her, but with the people.
Forget gender. Forget race. They weren’t supposed to be issues, at least until the going got tough. And now it has.
But with the people looking desperately for someone to believe in, someone like Barack Obama, those issues remain in the background.
People feel a need for something to believe in, something beyond our traditional political divisions.
We’re involved in an unethical and mistaken war, the economy seems to be collapsing around us, the nation’s status in the world has sunk to new lows, we can’t agree on how we’re degrading the environment, and our leaders’ political differences make them impotent to do something about all of the above.
Hillary has been unable to make people believe she’s part of the solution because she’s been unable to separate herself from being part of the problem.
Eight years in the White House and seven more in the Senate will do that to you.
She was around to vote in favor of the Patriot Act and the Iraq war. At the time, she figured such votes would look pretty good on her presidential resume someday. But that support for Bush’s war has come back to haunt her.
Rather than having a feather to put into her tough foreign-policy cap, she finds herself needing a helmet, under fire because she’s unable to admit she made a mistake and is left to blame the error on misinformation.
People are tired of the United States having to blame hundreds of thousands of deaths on mistakes or misinformation. Hearing Obama insist he was against the war from the beginning, they say, yes, we want a new direction.
Presumably, when it comes to war, they’ll get one. But there is little difference between Hillary and Barack on the other issues, which is why such a vague notion as ``change’’ has been able to arouse people.
It would not be surprising anymore to see people marching in mass demonstrations to the chant of ``we want change, we want change.’’
Yes, it is an appealing concept, despite the fact that in reality it is impossible for any state of affairs to stay the same - or not change.
Of course, for Obama, talking about change as supporters young and old jump up and down with signs bearing the slogans ``Stand for Change’’ and ``Change We Can Believe In’’ has to be exhilarating.
Based on what we’ve had the past seven years, Clinton, too, is offering definitive change - with hardly any distinction in most issues than Obama. So what has led to her decline from the unbeatable top rung to a worn-out and hoarse runnerup?
It’s the energy, and not just the kind that keeps you going from day to day from city to city. Obama has a charisma and a voice that has blinded many people to the fact that what he says is little different from what Clinton is saying.
Obama can mesmerize an audience in much the same way as some 20th-century leaders did, for good or ill. His devout followers are addicted to personality, hooked on the idea of change and tuned in to the sound and tone of his voice.
It’s been a long time since we’ve had a presidential candidate who could fire people up with a simple ``yes, we can.’’ That’s because they know what it means is that Obama can win and ``change’’ can be real.
Poor Hillary. On Tuesday night, speaking in Texas, she looked tired and like a loser. She’d lost her swagger, understandably, after getting thumped in eight straight primaries.
Clinton knows, however, that the ephemeral shifts in energy that put Barack in the delegate lead for the first time could just as easily turn the other way. She’s been around. Sometimes vague ideas and personalities can get old before their time.
``We want change. We want change.’’
Yes, we all want change. But what kind? At some point, the winning candidate is going to face half a nation and half a world that don’t want to go in his or her new direction. What then?

Cary Brunswick writes for The Daily Star in Oneonta, N.Y. He can be reached at (800) 721-1000, ext. 217 or cary@thedailystar.com.

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