George Bush won't be on the ballot this November.
This declaration aroused perhaps the most thundering applause and cheers Tuesday night inside an overflowing Kohl Center, as Madison received Illinois Senator Barack Obama. His 17,000-plus supporters punctuated almost every phrase with passionate ovation. It was a political experience like no other.
The greatest hurrah came after those nine words. George Bush won't be on the ballot this November.
In 1888, the British politician and historian James Bryce wrote that American presidential elections are sometimes a turning-point in history."" Referencing the 1800, 1860 and 1864 contests, Bryce observed that a U.S. election is not just choosing an administrator, but, in reality, ""the deliverance of the mind of the people upon all such questions as they feel able to decide.""
In 2008, with an unpopular outgoing president, no incumbent vice president and the Clintons slowly fading into 20th century history, the Obama campaign has the makings of one of these ""turning-points."" The junior senator from Illinois stands opposite President Bush on seemingly every issue and action required of the presidency. For those who are sick and tired of the Bush years, their remedy has arrived.
For months I was skeptical. I think most of us were. Experts told us that Obama is too young and inexperienced, that Clinton's machine is strong and her nomination is inevitable. But now people are standing up and voting. With each passing day, Clinton's strengths become weaknesses and her once-certain success slips farther and farther away.
On Tuesday night, I watched people young and old clamber for a glimpse of Senator Obama. They stood with bated breath, hanging onto every word, nodding intently, absorbed in his language and inspired by his ideas - or, at least, the idea he has come to represent. Desperate for change, longing for hope, they waited in the cold and packed the Kohl Center to find deliverance of the mind.
Call it charisma. Call it star power. For months I was skeptical. But it is now clear to me that a major movement is underfoot, and this truly was a political experience like no other.
In a recent letter to the editor of The New York Times, Clinton-supporter Angela Worden posed an interesting set of questions.
""Can you eat hope?"" she queried. ""Can you wear hope? When your home is foreclosed, can you live in a house made of hope?""
""Yes, we can!,"" those assembled Tuesday might reply with greater confidence than ever before.
Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania must still be hurdled. November is nine months away and John McCain is one of our nation's most respected politicians. Victory is far from guaranteed. However, Tuesday night proved to this Republican that a ""turning-point"" may be drawing near.
Adam Schmidt is a senior studying geography and political science. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
