Anti-Climacus

Alex Massie, whose instincts (since usually cynical) are usually spot-on, seems off here:

I don't trust the St Barack stuff either, but there's no point in doubting that Obama has something his rivals don't. There's a clarity that comes to the Democratic race when one views it from a distance (in this instance, the best part of 4,000 miles). Yes Obama is inexperienced, yes a good deal of the talk about how he would unite the country is wishful thinking, yes there are times when he seems a little too keen to bathe in the symbolism of his campaign and yes, god knows how he would actually do as President. But all of these concerns - perfectly legitimate though they may be - seem dwarfed by a single, simple truth: for the first time in American history there is the prospect of voting for a black candidate who actually has a reasonable chance to win. And we're talking about his healthcare plan? Wood and tress, folk.

I should clarify: as analysis, I suspect he's entirely right. As political reality, this drives me crazy. Voting for Obama, on this model, is like giving the Best Actor Oscar to Denzel Washington. At the time, his winning had less to do with merit--though he may well have merited it--than a combined apology for overlooking those in the past who may have deserved to win alongside Hollywood's willingness to think as well of itself as it durst: look at how far we've come!

The conservative critique of racial preferences is built around the idea that race doesn't, shouldn't, actually matter. To pull something up from the archives (foul language ahead):

"If Sept. 11 showed us anything, it's that we're all Americans together, and our black friends are just as excellent at being overprivileged celebrity f***wads as anybody else."
-From Salon.com's Oscars article

So by all means, America, lets us pretend-to-not-make-a-big-deal-about-race-while-making-a-big-deal-out-of-it, and transcend it by noting and appreciating how awesome we are because we're finally going to transcend race.

Also:

There is still something hubristic about the idea that his campaign marks the chance to end the old politics “once and for all.” It is curious to me that Obama’s us vs. them rhetoric, while he defines himself as a candidate dedicated to unity, does not receive the same scorn for being like a “conspiracy theory” that Edwards’ similar rhetoric routinely receives.

Congratulations, Mitt Romney, I would now vote for you over someone else.