Although many of the participants in precinct 275's caucus were confused as to how Texas' caucus process works, they were happy to be voting regardless. Last night, 611 people went to the Baker Center School at 39th Street and Avenue B to do the caucus dance, and the Obamamentum was overwhelming. Hillary Clinton's supporters petered out early into the night while those in Obama's support line waited up to an hour to sign in. The temporary caucus chair's direction of traffic seemed symptomatic of the events to unfold: "Obama people to the left, Hillary people and Republicans to the right!" he said. Anticipating defeat, a lone woman wearing a Hillary T-shirt walked past the effervescent Obama throng and smiled sadly. It seemed like Clinton would be a goner.
But as Tuesday's returns trickled in, Clinton rose from the ashes and pulled off surprising victories in Ohio and Texas, leaving all those Austinites who had been seeing the world through Barack-tinted glasses wondering where the magic went. But Obama supporters shouldn't fear a Clinton-tinged future. Looking back at Clinton's speeches 15 years ago, the differences between her rhetoric then and Obama's now are miniscule. She espoused the same hope and change then that Obama employs today. On April 6, 1993, Hillary stood before a crowd in Austin and professed a need for "spritual renewal," according to a 1993 article in The New York Times Magazine appraising the potential of her message. She told the Texans that America had come down with a "sleeping sickness of the soul" and that our country was inflicted with a "crisis of meaning" and "alienation and despair and hopelessness."
"Who will lead us out of this spiritual vacuum?" she asked the crowd. The answer: "All of us."
At the time, Clinton was derided by the press for spewing empty words, just as Obama is accused of being all rhetoric and no substance. And while many are loyal in their belief that hope, change and unity are concepts of only Obama in this race, Clinton has taken those words with her over the years, and they are woven into her current campaign. Instead of repeating them over and over, she knows them, and she knows that words alone cannot bring a revolution. In 15 years, Obama may know hope and change in the same way. Americans may start hearing less of those words, but they need not worry. Some things can go unsaid, and reality will come into focus.
Be the first to comment on this article!