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Obamamania

The media - and therefore the blogosphere - are absolutely manic over Barak Obama's announcement that he has created an exploratory committee - the obligatory step in his obvious path to a 2008 run for president. From CBSnews.com (links are in the original):

And every front page (except for the Wall Street Journal's, save a brief mention somewhere in the middle of the newsbox) takes note of the momentous occasion. The Washington Post, for its part, actually squeezes two front-page articles out of the news.

The teaser on this "Investigative Report" from the Chicago ABC affiliate:

In this Intelligence Report: how to protect the man who would be America's first black president.

That kind of reporting certainly suggests a lot of political weight for this political n00b. I imagine that a black presidential candidate who appeared to have even a remote chance of being elected would be the target of an extra part of society's violent fringe. And I don't mean to be dismissive of that when I say that the language of this report absolutely stopped me short. Is Barak Obama close enough to the presidency that murderous racists would attack him? I doubt he is in any more danger than any other senator, frankly. But I don't doubt in the least that he will be protected in many ways during his political career. He's just got that something that makes foreign papers refer to him as a rock star. He is vitally important, for some reason, to the Democratic Party.

And I think that's a weakness.

I spoke with a coworker about Obama this morning who articulated that weakness pretty well. This woman is active in the Democratic Party, and cares very deeply about the party's success. Her take?

He's a gimmick. He's a good enough orator that his dark skin doesn't resign him to "black politician" status, but right now, he's just a gimmick. Maybe he doesn't even deserve to be, but he is, because he's nobody, and the party is going nuts over him. It will be a long two years, and he is already stepping into that spotlight. Something will sink him, and race will get blamed. And how does that help America move forward?

If Barak Obama were white (what's that? He is as white as he is black, and raised by white people in a non-black community?), would he be anybody? If not, then have we bothered to judge him by the content of his character? How ironic that Obama's announcement of the exploratory committee came on the day after Martin Luther King Jr Day.

If it's simply time for America to have a black president in order to show how grown-up and enlightened we are, then you'd better bring me a black candidate I can vote for. I have nothing at all against Barak Obama, but I have nothing for him, either. And maybe someday he would have the vision and experience to win my vote, but right now I haven't seen anything. I can't vote for him simply on account of his having dark skin and a great smile. And shame on anybody who could.