You Can't Stop a Movement

I'll be honest, when I heard that John McCain had chosen a woman as his VP nominee, I thought the Obama campaign might be slipping--that the aura surrounding the black nominee would soon be overshadowed by the woman from Alaska.  Will Sarah Palin be able to give the McCain campaign the overhaul it needs to change the face of the general election?  I don't think so.

Palin is an excellent choice, actually.  She will without a doubt in my mind help John McCain; but in Politico's words: "Let's stop pretending this race is as close as national polling suggests."  McCain is trying to defeat a movement, and unless something catastrophic happens to the Obama camp, he won't.  

Pretty soon, the idea that we could have a hockey-mom VP will fade (many believed we'd have a woman as President... and VP isn't as important), and people will remember what they saw in Obama: a new direction.  Whether or not Obama will be the leader this country needs is irrelevant.  The fact is that he inspires people.  He makes you think that things can be better (and they can); that our country can reach for the stars once

again, and that we can be proud of our country without remorse. People don't want the politics of fear--they want to dream, and live the dream.  Perhaps Barack Obama is a fantasy.  Maybe he is an inevitable disappointment.  But it is Obama's politics of hope that make him something John McCain can never be.