Political idols?

I don’t suppose seeing Bill Clinton should have been that big of a deal. Sure, the guy is an ex-president, but I had seen plenty of other big-name politicians speak, including Sen. Barack Obama. Is an ex-president really as exciting as a future president?\nI guess so. For whatever reason, I spent most of last Wednesday totally psyched to see the man. It sounds stupid to me just writing it. I know that seeing the charming and smooth Bill Clinton giving speeches doesn’t give you the whole truth about the man’s presidency. \nA few nights before Bill Clinton’s speech, I was reading “We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed with Our Families,” written by Philip Gourevitch, for my African Politics class. The book chronicles the history and aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. \nGourevitch’s account of how the international community responded to the killings was more disturbing and upsetting than any description of the massacre itself. I was reminded of how the Clinton administration shamelessly avoided labeling the killings in Rwanda as genocide in order to avoid its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. It really shouldn’t have been hard for me to curb my enthusiasm about Bill Clinton.\nHowever, when you’re becoming politically aware during the incompetence and cronyism of the Bush administration, it really isn’t that hard to idealize Bill Clinton. By thinking of Bill Clinton’s presidency and the 1990s as a period of great American progress, I was able to escape the unresponsive Bush administration. \nObama provided me with the same service. That is until I became wary of him, as well. His movement is indeed exciting, and it provided me with my first volunteer experience. Alas, the more idealistic a movement is, the easier it is to become disillusioned.\nHillary Clinton was a nice antithesis to Obama’s charisma-driven movement for a while, but now I can’t help but seek refuge from her conniving and disingenuous tactics. Maybe I will end up back with Obama. Too bad New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg isn’t running. \nIt seems like it always has to be someone, though. I could just say that all the candidates are garbage and that you should not support a single one of them, but that just seems too cynical. It just feels like I am not taking a stand if I don’t support one candidate or the other in a political contest.\nEven if our support for individual candidates obscures our view of their flaws, such support can often generate an uncommon amount of energy. Just look at those Ron Paul supporters who chalk all over campus even though they know, just as much as we do, that he had no chance of winning. When we come to see politicians for who they are, it is still hard not to have a special appreciation for the politicians who first got you really excited about politics. \nI guess that’s what Bill Clinton and Obama – whatever my reservations about them – are to me.