Hope for a Plan

Right now the Olympics are going on. Every night when I get home, I'm turning on the TV to see what I get to see from Beijing. Right now, it's mostly Michael Phelps and gymnastics. The former I could watch all day. The second usually makes me want to do laundry (and I'm being kind). I'm a politics junky, but like most of the country I'm generally glued to the Olympics instead of catching parts of Countdown.

Most people haven't been paying close attention to the presidential campaign anyways, and especially during the Olympics most folks see it as a nuisance. This year the want to get it all over with is even more prevalent considering that when Election Day does come, the campaign will have been nearly two years old. I'm even ready to get it over with. Hopefully, the Olympics will serve as a kind of a cleansing of the popular palette, and the country will be ready to decide who will be running the country. Lord knows no one is right now. (I guess we can be thankful that the Texas Rangers aren't leading their division, or else Bush would be TOTALLY disengaged.)

I'm an Obama supporter, but I've been kind of distressed at his campaign since he clinched the nomination. During the primaries, his campaign seemed like it had a plan. From Iowa on, it seemed as if his campaign knew where it'd be competitive and could win. At times it was almost Bill Belichick-ish in that the campaign knew the plan it took to win from Day One and never wavered from the plan. It just implemented it. Now, it seems as if the campaign is just thrashing about, threading water, holding steady, etc. Other than the trip overseas, not too much has seemed to happened, which may have been on purpose. When the Olympics are over, and the candidates select their VP candidates, the country is likely to see a three and a half month politics blitz. Unfortunately I am only left to hope that the Obama campaign has another strategy that it is ready to implement as soon as the Olympics are over. Obama comes back from vacation, announce the VP, and head to the convention to set the stage for the next three months. I am left to hope that it has a plan that is right now being fine tuned. I am left to hope that it has the next three and a half months laid and planned out (like it seemed to have the primaries), and all it has to do when Obama comes back from his vacation is implement it. I realize circumstances may dictate what the campaigns must do, but a plan still must be at the ready to implement.

Somehow I have a strange confidence that the Obama campaign has such a plan. Through the campaign it seemed to implement its plan while fixing mistakes (New Hampshire, etc.) and adjusting to events (Rev. Wright, etc.). Obama's campaign seemed about as well run as it could be, and I doubt that will have changed. It should actually be evern more well run. My cautious confidence (and I suppose political common sense) is that after the Olympics, the VP candidate will be announced. Then the convention showcase Obama and his campaign themes. Then it's a month of advertising blitzes and campaigning, followed by a month of debates and debate reactions. The debates will show that Obama is indeed presidential, and the country will turn towards feeling comfortable with him being presidential enough to vote for him at the end.

While supporters want landslides, and politcal junkies want daily incites into where the campaign is, the actual voters take their time to make up their mind. Finally turning their attention to the two candidates, they beging to make their decision. Why shouldn't they wait until the last minute? That just shows that the public has an open mind and are listening to the candidates and campaigns. This election will turn one way or another late. I can only hope that the Obama campaign has its plan, and that it has worked. Obama has a great message, a great story, and a great opportunity to bring actual change. It would be colossalshame to waste this opportunity in our nation's history just for the lack of a plan.