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COMMENTARY
October 22, 2008
Obama as Saviour
That we cannot solve, or even assuage, any problem, on the basis of wrong information, is one of those articles of faith to which I continue to subscribe, along with the Nicene Creed, and the proposition that two plus two will always equal four -- not only in this world, but in all possible worlds.This admits of the "exception that proves the rule," however, under my also oft-repeated "iron law of paradox." For information is just information, there is always more to be had, and it sometimes happens that a problem goes away, notwithstanding our best efforts to take the wrong end of the stick, and beat it until it gets much worse. In my Catholic Church, we have a variety of little prayers that turn on the logic, "Lord, don't send us the fate we deserve," and I utter it quite earnestly at times like this -- when, to cite the daily rubric in James Taranto's excellent Wall Street Journal web column, "Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control." The hysteria over global warming, the hysteria over the banking crisis, the hysteria over Barack Obama's presidential candidacy -- to name just three hysterias in a rich international field, and not even mention Islamist terrorism or the word "Eurabia" -- combine in strange ways to make a reading tour of any major newspaper (or Internet news aggregator for that matter) into a simulated space flight. We live in a country that just re-elected a Conservative Party that has tried very hard to remain boring, generally; and more specifically, inoffensive to our media, bureaucratic, academic, and legal elites. They barely limped home, owing largely to the fact that the principal opposition party was led by a man (I wouldn't be so cruel as to name him) who could not formulate sound bites in English (or any other language). But had we recently joined those United States of America, in some alternative universe, Mr. Obama would be in no need of the estimated $700 million he will have raised, in total, to pump into swing states in the final fortnight of the U.S. election. For according to casual polls up here, Obama would sweep all ten hypothetical ex-Canadian states by breathtaking margins, without a nickel of advertising. Hypotheticals are not actuals, however. Were we in fact part of the United States, we might prove no more Democrat than Alaska -- for our whole attitude towards the election would be changed by the prospect of living with the results. The same comment goes for almost every other country, for with the exception of several ex-Communist corners of central Europe, the whole world overwhelmingly wants Obama to win. That the whole world is hardly interested in the alternative policies of U.S. Democrats and Republicans, and knows little if anything about the real stakes, should go without saying. Everyone has an opinion about what someone else should do. The idea of "Obama as Saviour" -- cultivated by the man himself in the earlier laps of his marathon campaign, and expressed forthrightly in his remarkable memoir, The Audacity of Hope -- has seized hold of the planet, though not entirely of the United States. For in the U.S., contrary to bullying media impressions, the polls still show the two presidential tickets surprisingly close -- five or six points between them in the RealClearPolitics national average, and more like two points when the numbers are re-sorted to represent those most likely to vote. Those points could easily disappear after discounting the systemic bias towards Obama in polls that over-sample urban Democrats, to say nothing of the next few days. Meanwhile, the proportion of "undecideds" seems to be growing. This is the classic set-up for a Truman-beats-Dewey "November surprise." Alternatively, it is the classic set-up for a Reagan-beats-Carter-in-landslide -- for over the last weekend before the election, the "undecideds" may indeed swing decisively for the apparently revolutionary candidate, on the principle that you only live once. The Democrats, and their running dogs in the mass media, have tried repeatedly to present the competition for votes as a referendum on race -- that is to say, the only thing that could possibly explain an Obama defeat, would be, "America is racist." (Behind that lies the culture wars, writ very large.) I think anyone in his right mind should be able to see through that imposture, but then, I'm not sure how many Democrats are currently in their right minds. The world, however, is anti-American enough to accept that analysis at face value. In a moment of international hysterias (note plural), the notion of Obama as Saviour (simply in being Obama, regardless what he might subsequently do), carries no rational restrictions. And while I am confident that the fallout from a McCain victory could be contained by the National Guard in the U.S., I'm beginning to worry about the international ramifications. David Warren
© Ottawa Citizen
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