and the Republican party is in total disarray.
It's not just Democrats who are frustrated with the direction of this country under George W. Bush. Many independents and Republicans are disgusted and disillusioned, too. Maybe they have always voted Republican but this year they're looking for something different or maybe they're true swing voters who go back and forth. People like Jim Webb before he switched to the Democratic party. People like my father, a Reagan-adoring 60-year-old Republican who grew up rural and poor in lily-white Middle America to a father (my dead grandpa) who used the N-word but is still considering voting for Obama, especially if Huckabee is the GOP nominee.
Whatever the case is they are undecided about who to vote for and unhappy with the GOP field so they are out there, like flies, and then they hear Obama speak and he catches 'em.
And why do these flies flock to Barack Obama? It's not because he's using right-wing talking points or they think he's taking right-wing positions.
It's because you catch more flies with honey than vinegar and Obama apparently is the only one who realizes that all these flies are out there for the taking by our Democratic nominee if the Democratic nominee just reaches out to them.
And what is Obama saying to these people? We're all Americans and we're all in this together whether you voted for Bush or not. And even if you voted Bush last time you can vote for Barack now. And we are going to make big changes in this country together with all of us having a voice and all of us in community.
Is that so wrong?
Is it really such a sin to try to grow the party with an inclusive message? Is that really all that Clintonian or triangulating to say he wants the votes of Republicans, too? That he wants their opinions, too?
Because I don't think it is.
Obama is giving them something vote for rather than an opponent or an issue or a fear to vote against. And that's what resonates with people who have been wedged to death by the Clinton triangulation and Bush's brain.
No matter whether he's up or down, Obama projects a positive aura of calmness and authenticity and hope and presents a true way of breaking from the past, an inspiring message of unity and a symbolism to his presidency that all Americans can feel good about.
That's why the conservative pundits sometimes write and say nice things about Obama. Not because he's secretly conservative. Not because they want to face him in the general instead of Hillary. He makes them feel good, too, as fellow Americans.
And perhaps they see the writing is on the wall that a Democratic president is probably coming, but they already know they don't like Hillary or Edwards. So Obama gives them hope that he won't be as bad as they think they already know the other Democrats in the field would be.
That's really all it is. And I don't see this going away in the general election.
Because believe it or not, not all people who voted for Bush did so because they hate gay people and love Jesus. Some just didn't like Al Gore and John Kerry and didn't feel like the Democrats gave them a good enough reason to vote for them.
But that doesn't mean they wanted their government to interfere in the Terri Schiavo case or they appreciated the GOP and corporate corruption of the 2000s or were ambivalent about the ridiculous spending on projects like the Bridge to Nowhere. That doesn't mean they want Roe-v-Wade overturned or were dying for social security privatized.
Sure the 30-percenters feel that way or just don't care. But the rest?
Right now they are looking to feel inspired and looking for change and Obama provides these things the way the other candidates can't, especially not the Republicans in the field.
This is a very anti-incumbent, anti-establishment time in this country and Obama is a man for the times.