I don't know about "so much", and yes I am projecting my own dreams. I am excited about living in a great country, and see no hope whatsoever of that with a McCain presidency. My vote is for life, hope and a thriving country with thriving citizens.

I don't think Obama is going to change much. At least, not nearly as much as would many of the third party candidates. Obama is much part of the same machine as the rest of the republicrats, so I'm not setting my expectations very high.

Mr. Hari is so wrapped up in his own limited perspective that I have a very hard time taking him seriously. It's pretty clear that *he* is projecting his dreams onto poor Mr. Obama; gosh, he'll have a lot to live up to if everyone does that.

Hari's "tectonic shifts" which he seems to think are universal movements are pretty much the campaign's own talking points... drunk the kool-aid, much?

But I was particularly repulsed by the following:
But then the cold fear comes: what if the American people are too addled by the race-fear, and turn to McCain at the last moment?
As if nobody could possibly have an honest disagreement with Mr. Obama on viewpoint or issues -- no, no, if you don't fall into lock-step with him and the rest of the democrats, you must be a racist. Puh-leeeze. The very assertion proves that Mr. Hari may very well be what he insists we should despise.

I think Obama's intentions are good, I think he would love to really change things for the better, but there will be plenty of red tape to get through first. The president can't just snap his fingers and voila! Change! We know it doesn't work that easily, but I hope that if elected, and odds are in his favor from what I can tell, Obama will push for these much needed changes so we can have a better country and have better lives! Not everybody agrees with him, but his ideas (at least quite a few of them) are quite good and seemingly well thought out. I put my trust in him, I believe in him and I believe in a bright future for ALL Americans under Obama!

VOTE BARACK OBAMA `08!!!

YES WE CAN have CHANGE WE REALLY NEED!

I think we all have high hopes and dreams for a man that is just ordinary - minus the fact that he's about to make history tomorrow. Everyone has their own ideas about what a black man can accomplish as president; some are just higher than others.

Johann Hari. Drank just a wee bit much of the kool-aid I'd say.

If the man is elected, I HOPE I'm wrong about what I think he and the Congress will do.

I hope he doesn't emasculate the military.
I hope he doesn't repeal the tax cuts. (My taxes went down $530 because of it.)
I hope he doesn't introduce wind fall profits taxes. (We see how well that faired in the late 70's.)
I hope he doesn't reimpose the drilling ban forcing us to continue buying more oil from overseas.
I hope he doesn't want to bankrupt the coal companies and cause our electricity bills to increase.

See, I'm for hope. :-)

Well, as a long-time kool-aid drinker I would say that Obama is well worthy of the praise that has been given.

Instead of imagining the worst, I wonder what would happen if we all woke up on November 5th and said 'okay, let's get to work'. Imagine what we are capable when we all work together?

If Obama's dreams and hope prove contagious we will have one million plug in hybrid cars on the road in the next 8 years. We will build clean-coal plants, wind and solar energy farms, sustainable ethanol producing farms, and finally be able to wean ourselves off of big oil's teat. Imagine the millions of green collar jobs that will be created if America works together to meet these goals.

Imagine a country where every American child has access to higher education if they are willing to join Americorp or another organization where they give service to their country in exchange for tuition.

Imagine a foreign policy reliant on diplomacy not warfare. What could be accomplished if we negotiated for peace and exported the clean-energy technology we build to countries where resource wars have bled across continents? Imagine America having a hand in stopping the spread of AIDS, Malaria, and poverty, how much differently would the world look upon us?

It's very easy to give up hope and listen to the fear mongers who use words like fight and terrorize in place of any other suitable verb. What sort of wonderful world we would live in if hope, determination and collective resolve were to triumph this year. Instead of fighting against each other doesn't it make more sense to see that our common interests can trump the little things that divide us?

I'll be over here ----> hoping Obama is the man I believe him to be. There's plenty of room. Please join me.

Yeah, I'm a kool-aid drinker as well, I guess, and I'm damn proud of it. Better to drink kool-aid mixed with cyanide than... oil mixed with shattered dreams and oppression -- the kool-aid tastes better! My sarcasm sucks. Sorry.

Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. He also wrote something called "Notes on the State of Virginia," in which he describes his dream for America: a sort of agrarian socialist state. People concerned that we're abusing the ideas that the founding fathers had for our country have got their perspectives a little too skewed.

If the man is elected, I HOPE he and congress will do a few things:

I hope they don't throw our military around like an arrogant jackass.
I hope they repeal the tax cuts on the rich.
I hope they tax the oil companies who have no remorse about raping drivers.
I hope they invest money in alternative energy.
I hope they do something to make health insurance companies lose their ability to choose who lives and who dies.
I hope they pay off our national debt a bit, so we aren't a super-power in debt. Hell, I don't even care if we're a super-power, really. How much power does one country deserve? Abuse of power leads to a lot of problems for this country. Charlie Wilson's War, anyone?

"I hope he doesn't want to bankrupt the coal companies and cause our electricity bills to increase."

hahahaha

While I realize that some (or most) of these things will not happen, I would just love to see somebody in the White House who actually represents something more than the rich guy. One day, the conservative machine of lies will run out of gas. This young generation, that I guess I am proud to belong to, will see to that. After all, Republicans will run out of gas without alternative energy.

Yes, and yes. He can deliver, though it'll be difficult, especially since talk show media is going to go apeshit insane the second he's elected. Think you've heard enough rants about "the liberals in Washington" and "the liberal media" now? Wait 'til there are actually liberals in Washington... And yet, at the same time, I'm not exactly sure what people mean by "change" and what they expect of Obama when he actually comes into office.

--PolarisDiB

There is what is called "Sea Change."

There is what is called "Step Change."

There is what is called "Change."

There is what is called "A paradigm shift."

Quite obviously, Barak Obama is operating from inside "The Gap."

Between that way of being which still holds it to be true that there is only one paradigm, (of reality); and that way of being, (other than a recieved wisdom fundamentalist),...which is party to the dynamics
of what Colin Powell calls "transformational."

For those of us already clued in, to that which is referred to as transformational, Barak Hussein Obama is displaying that subtle
distinction which is entirely apposite.

For those of us who are not (as yet) CONSCIOUSLY clued in, and are however;... sensing that discreet actuality: Barak Hussein Obama is
displaying that subtle distinction which is entirely apposite.

From which, it is entirely natural that... "There will be an answer,
let it be."

Regardless of what we think about Obama, his ideas and his leadership will be put to the test over the next four years. I suspect his success will be largely driven by the margin of downticket Democratic victory.

It's pretty clear that the Republican delegation to Congress will be uniformly obstructionist regarding Obama's agenda. The smaller the delegation, the less effective their obstructionism.

No matter what qualities and aspirations we place on Obama's mantle, no man, not even a President, can effect the kind of change we want on his own. It will take an enormously successful downticket victory for Democrats, coupled with a Democratic majority that has more courage than the current one has shown, to pave the way for him.

Hi, I'm not american but I really think that Obama can make a big change in the americans' lives.
I think he has such good intentions and I hope he can start a new era for America.
Maybe if he becomes the next president of the U.S. the people in latin america (like me) and the rest of the world can have more hopes that their futures will be better, with more opportunities rather than with McCain in the Whitehouse.
I'm not an american voter, but as a salvadorean and as a citizen of the world I hope the best for the american people and for everybody in this messy world. So I'm inviting all of you to vote or support Obama because if you choose him maybe you will have a chance to live in a better country and make the world a better place.

P.S.: Greetings from El Salvador

If he louses in my heart ill know that this nation is untrustworthy and based off of lies. I have a gutt feeling it is already but, this will prove it. Barack is without a doubt the change we not only want but we need to survive as a nation. He will provoke change and progress and science forbid anything ever happen to him Biden is more then qualified for the presidency. He is not just a man he is a man with dreams and the will to push those dreams into reality.
So it is my belief that it is time for new ideas in the white house and a man to be commander and chief that truly has the good will of the people and his nation at heart. No more fear, lets live through hope.

Yes, all of you are projecting your dreams onto an ordinary man.

Obama alone cannot walk on water, give oil to the poor, heal the health system, restore America's grandeur.

You'll all (Republicans, Democrats, Independants, Undecided, Abstentious, Uncaring) have to put a hand in, buckle down and tighten your belts, love thy neighbour as though s/he were yourself, sacrifice a little in the hope of gaining so much more, and ultimately live as though the time of America's Great Dominance is gone and now the time of America's Great Leadership is come.

...

Yeah, good luck with that.

Edited at 2008-11-04 08:31 am (UTC)