A reader writes:
I live in a split (Democratic, liberal, Christian) household. My wife sees Hillary through a victim prism, a fearless woman who fights back. I keep my mouth shut, mostly, but my fingers crossed for Obama and Iowa.
And it's not visceral for me; I'm just so tired of Hillary. I'm appalled at the dynasty aspect, of course, but more repulsed by this relentless boomerization. Obama's appeal is also generational, but it's MY generation: late boomers, Generation Jones, whatever, born in the late 50s and early 60s, with no Vietnam to haunt us, no campus battles to romanticize, no dead Presidents to mourn. Even Obama's Hollywood liberal contemporaries are the anti-Streisands ( e.g., Clooney, Penn, Robbins), articulate and apparently willing to stay out of the way if necessary. I can't see them crowding into an Obama Oval Office.
Aside from some of the exotic aspects of his life, Obama is someone I recognize. The thoughtful journey toward faith, the downplaying of race as an issue, the honesty and lack of artifice about his drug use -- I know this guy, I went to college with him, I talk with him after church. He shares a party with Hillary but little else, as far as I'm concerned, and about time.
My feelings entirely. Except for my deep distrust of the Clinton machine.