Obama is the Democratic Nominee

So finally Obama is the Democratic nominee. Clinton hasn’t yet acknowledged defeat, but she’ll have to unless she wants to appear reprimanded by the delegates of her own party. Here are a few relevant questions regarding the future.

1) Will Clinton vow full support for Obama’s candidacy?
She will or else she’ll probably get isolated within her own party. Praises for Clinton come cheap lately in the presidential race (see last night’s speeches by Obama and McCain), but no matter how sincere these compliments, she seems to be a skillful politician, and skillful politicians play the game with their heads and not with their guts. My hunch is that she is smart enough to choose supporting Obama as her best way out of this weary Primary.

2) Will Obama win the general election?
Who knows? He does seem to run with the lead, but Democrats have made it a party tradition loosing elections under favorable circumstances. Plus, Republicans are very crafty and unprincipled for playing the game. Let’s hope Obama will manage to dodge all the hurdles that will surely arise on his way. At least, he does seem to be smarter than many previous Democratic candidates.

3) If elected president, will Obama bring about the much promised change?
Probably not. He is an exciting politician and has a sort of aura, so it’s easy to develop a political crush on him (as some bloggers have). But to be realistic, you don’t need a whole lot of political experience to realize that almost always political change comes piecemeal. I too am sick of empty political forecasts, but one more on the pile can’t harm: many will be disappointed. The higher you fly, the harder you hit the floor when you fall. And there’s only so much a president can do. Not because a Progressive Democrat gets elected, the country is any more Progressive than it was before. There is also a Parliament, and the Supreme Court, and State governments and legislatures, etc. But, as I have said in other posts, I do think that Obama’s presidency would have a tremendous historical impact in the long run. I believe this could potentially ensue a redistribution of political power across the racial spectrum. No doubt that would be huge.