The Pundits - some on this site included - tried to score the debate like a boxing match. They totally missed the boat. This wasn't about who played more offense or defense. This wasn't about whether McCain or Obama landed more zingers. This wasn't about Obama agreeing with McCain too many times. This was about a single night undoing the efforts of the Republican smear machine these past several months. This was about a single night where the American people saw Obama with their own eyes, listened to the man with their own ears, and realized that he wasn't the monster the right-wing made him out to be. That he seemed.... "presidential".
There’s a certain, pervasive, cultural racism working in places like rural Pennsylvania. My hometown was the only northern town burned by the Confederates during the civil war, but if you drive through Chambersburg, you will see people waving that flag like it’s there own. Last time I checked, there’s a guy up on Main Street in Fayetteville who flies one flag outside of his house: He doesn’t fly the American flag. He doesn’t fly the Pennsylvania state flag. He flies old Dixie. Some days, when I’m back home, and I drive past his house, I want to stop, knock on his door, and remind him that where he lives, what year it is, and that he might think of moving further south.
Back in 1992, we had a local runner named Steve Spence make it to the Olympics. NBC nightly news did a story on Spence and Chambersburg, where they showed pictures of old women glaring, suspiciously, out of their windows at the media crews following the runner on his daily route. As the news described it, Chambersburg was not really the type of place that took too kindly to outsiders. The town has gradually become less insular over the past two decades, but still remains a place that is long on routine and tradition, and short on change. Don’t get me wrong. My hometown is a damn fine place. And it was a great place to grow up. Houses are affordable. Local schools are pretty good. The town is steeped in history. And the place is surrounded by some of the most beautiful state forest land I’ve ever seen. But it’s a small town. And a very blue-collar town. It’s a conservative place, and most residents there consistently vote Republican. And working in the background is this subtle racist malaise. The Confederate flags. Old people who use the word "colored". Guys in the factory cracking racist jokes.
As you might be able to guess, my town is the sort of place where the right-wing smear machine gets quite a bit of mileage out of its lies, race-baiting, and attack ads. Folks stand outside the gas station talking about "Osama Obama", and how he’s really some "secret Muslim" who was actually born in Indonesia, or Africa, or some other far off place. Just this afternoon, my little brother told me about all the anti-Obama ads that have been running in Pennsylvania. If we take the McCain campaign and the Republican Party at their word, Obama is any or all of the following:
(1) An empty suit
(2) An outsider
(3) An extremist
(4) An elitist
(5) A radical
(6) A secret Muslim
(7) A radical Christian adherent to Black Liberation Theology
(8) An inexperienced novice who has no foreign policy credentials
(9) The riskier choice for president
In all fairness, they have done a good job of defining Obama and scaring lots of folks into supporting Senator McCain. Try as they might, however, they could not avoid the inevitable. Last night, millions of American people tuned in to watch the debates. Last night, millions of American people saw Senator Obama with their own eyes and listened to him with their own ears. Last night, millions of people realized that Barack Obama was nothing like the sinister, radical, terrorist-fist-jabbing, empty suit that Fox News and co. made him out to be.
"You know what, he didn’t seem like a radical to me. He seemed real intelligent. Real calm. Like he thought everything through, made careful decisions. And we need that. What, after eight years where it wasn’t sure if this president ever made a careful, intelligent decision." My buddy’s dad, Jeff, is a republican-leaning independent. He voted for Clinton once. He wasn’t happy with Bush. And he liked the old McCain, but thinks the new McCain isn’t "talking sense". Sure, he had some doubts about Obama. He wondered if he was really a radical, an elitist, or a risky choice. But after last night, those doubts seemed largely erased, "He looked real comfortable up there, answering questions. Really in command." I joke with him, "Hey Jeff, you want an Obama sign for the front yard?" He laughs, and says, "I like the guy, and I’m voting for him, but I’ll have to pass on the sign." He admits that he isn’t completely comfortable with the idea of everyone knowing that he supports Senator Obama. "You know, you’ve got to deal with stuff like stuff like people callin’ him Osama. People sayin’ how he’s secretly a Muslim. I mean, that’s a bunch a crap I don’t feel like dealing with. That has nothing to do with jobs, with the economy, with our kids’ education. But it makes you feel... uncomfortable, you know. When you’re the only one supporting Obama.... I mean... as far as I know." His neighbors have McCain signs. He doesn’t want to make waves.
We talked for a good half an hour today. About everything. The new job I might take. How he saw my little brother a few weeks back, and couldn’t believe how big he’d gotten. Whether or not he’d get to retire before he got too old to enjoy it. And politics. An old professor of mine used to say that personal experience and anecdotal evidence counts for nothing, at least not when you’re trying to be scientific about something. So in the end, that’s all this is. One phone call, and one conversation that I had with one 58 year old man, and old friend of mine, from a small town in Pennsylvania. But from that conversation, one thing about last night’s debate has become abundantly clear to me: Obama won, and Obama won big. In trying to score the debate like a boxing match, the pundits got it wrong. Of course, they want to call it a 71-71 draw. Of course they want to talk about who played offense and who played defense. Of course they want to break down every second those 90 minutes. Of course they want the horserace. But David Gregory and Pat Buchanan don’t have their fingers on the pulse of the heartland. They have no idea what the people are thinking in Pennsylvania or Virginia or Indiana. But I do, damn it. Because that’s where I’m from. Because at any given point in time, I can pick up the phone, call back home, and say, "Hey, what are folks saying about the campaign? What are they saying up at the gas station in Fayetteville about the debate? What do you hear down at the coffee house on the square?" And today, I did just that. I called home. I called the family. I called some friends. And I hear tell that Obama won, and won big. That he "doesn’t seem scary at all", that he "looked real good up there", that he – in the words of one old lady at the coffeehouse – "seems like such a nice, intelligent young man".
Jeff knows I volunteer on the campaign, and he knows I’ve been a staunch Obama supporter from the outset, so maybe he was just yanking my chain when he said, "I’ll give you one word to describe the way that man struck me last night. Presidential." I just laughed, and said, "You sure you don’t want that sign, buddy."