Rich on Obama and Huckabee

Between writing popular books, former Richmond Mercury (1972-73) columnist, Frank Rich, writes opinion pieces for the New York Times. His political observations and analysis are just as sharp and original as they have been on show business for decades. By the way, Rich could wear either hat back in his Mercury days, too.

Rich’s take on this very moment of Campaign 2008, between Iowa and New Hampshire, is a must-read piece of work. An excerpt of "They Didn’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" is below:

After so many years of fear and loathing, we had almost forgotten what it’s like to feel good about our country. On Thursday night, that long-dormant emotion came rushing back, like an old dream that pops out of the deepest recesses of memory, suddenly as clear as light. “They said this day would never come,” said Barack Obama, and yet here, right before us, was indisputable evidence that it had.

What felt good was not merely the improbable and historic political triumph of an African-American candidate carrying a state with a black population of under 3 percent. It was the palpable sense that our history was turning a page whether or not Mr. Obama or his doppelgänger in improbability, Mike Huckabee, end up in the White House. We could allow ourselves a big what-if: What if we could have an election that was not a referendum on either the Clinton or Bush presidencies?

Click here to read the entire piece.