The Washington Post's blog headline reads "Dartmouth students walk out on Bill." But really what happened was that they drifted away, some with regret. Sebastian Ramirez explains:
"I am not anti-Hillary, I am not anti-Clinton, I love Bill Clinton. But I just think we need a fresh start, a new face. ... All my life I've known the Clintons. As much as I like them, it's time for someone like Barack."
Friends Allie Landers, Jenna Smith and Marina Galkina echoed Ramirez. The three stopped by to get a glimpse of Clinton. But they headed for the doors just a few minutes after they got there. They're Obama supporters.
That's pretty much what happens. You get a breath of fresh air out there with Barack Obama. Walking back into the smoky back room dominated by Clinton, no matter affable and capable the man is, just doesn't attract you anymore.
And then there's the "I" factor. Listen to Hillary Clinton and what you hear is a litany of appraisals of Hillary by Hillary, only a little less disconcerting than Bush's assessment of Bush. The conservative, frequently befuddled, David Brooks, who seems actually torn between Obama and McCain catches a little of Obama's fresh air and it's clear Obama is about "you."
Obama emphasizes the connections between people, the networks and the webs of influence. These sorts of links are invisible to some of his rivals, but Obama is a communitarian. He believes you can only make profound political changes if you first change the spirit of the community. In his speeches, he says that if one person stands up, then another will stand up and another and another and you’ll get a nation standing up.
The key word in any Obama speech is “you.” Other politicians talk about what they will do if elected. Obama talks about what you can do if you join together. Like a community organizer on a national scale, he is trying to move people beyond their cynicism, make them believe in themselves, mobilize their common energies.
As EJ Dionne points out, Obama is what Karl Rove called a "game changer." He addresses the frustration Democrats have felt -- perhaps more acutely after a win in Congress changed nothing.
"When you've got a working majority behind you ... you can't be stopped." Transformation is not about policy details but about altering the political and social calculus.
And Obama knows where change has to come from.
"I'm betting on you," Obama told a rapturous audience in Derry on Sunday afternoon. "I don't believe change comes from the top down. It comes from the bottom up." Change will come "if you believe," Obama declares.