A lot of people are writing a lot of things about Obama's speech last night, and understandably so. But for Harrogate, a lot of it is still sinking in. It did something no modern political speech has ever done for him--it put him on defense, it made him think seriously about what his politics really are, and where they are going from here.
It is hard to explain, but knowing Harrogate personally, perhaps some Board Members will sense what he's getting at. For example, there was a time when for Harrogate, the social conservative element in America was the most loathed of its parts. That has been eroded over the last eight years, and in ways that Harrogate cannot quite articulate, Obama reminded him of why that is. Obama also reminded Harrogate of the truism that total agreement is not necessarily the endgame for political affiliation. This is not to say policy doesn't have crucial importance. But sense of life is just as important, and while ideological differences abound between them, Barack Obama's sense of life is very appealing to Harrogate indeed.
At this point it is hard to imagine Nader peeling away Harrogate's vote from Obama, even if he gets on the ballot here.
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