Newburyport, November Election, Heroes
October 6th, 2010As an electorate we want “heroes.” It’s one of the reasons that President Obama and Governor Deval Patrick got elected. But once real reality decisions start getting made on people’s real life, our “heroes” fall fast and far from the pedestal that the electorate put them on.
The voting public could project all sorts of things on Obama and Patrick while they were running for office, and when whatever that fantasy didn’t materialize, a big push down from that pedestal.
Sarah Palin is not stupid. Much easier to be a larger than life advocate than be governor, balance Alaska’s budget and get grief for it. Being an activist has its advantages over being a politician that actually has to do stuff.
So two things. Possibly the best thing that could happen to the country would be a Republican sweep this November, and then those Tea Party candidates would have to start making those hard, sometimes almost impossible decisions, and yup, you betcha, they will have feet of clay, and down from the pedestal they will go.
Or the Democrats could realize that our heroes are still heroes. It is far more heroic to try and do something about the state of the world then to speculate on it (bloggers have a much easier time over politicians–so does Sarah Palin).
The Democrats could embrace that President Obama is challenging the Pharisees, the hypocrites, the Republican party/the Tea Party (swiftly becoming one in the same), and turning over the money changing tables in Washington and on Wall Street.
The Democrats could start thinking of their president and themselves as Robin Hood, giving to the poor and the middle class, a noble undertaking. The Democrats could start acting as if they are proud of their accomplishments, instead of oozing an air of apology. We have our heroes. They are going through the fire, and yes, that’s one of the things had heroes do.