That Obama, no wonder he has everyone eating out of his hands. Why, look at this partial list of the things he has “transcended”:
1.) Political and Ideological Divisions– “Senator Obama has shown that he can transcend the ideological and partisan divisions that have paralyzed our politics for far too long and inspire people to believe again in the promise of America,” Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot said.
2.) Inhibitions– “Obama would bring to the White House a rich tradition of radical instincts, drawn from the dispossessed in the United States. That he spent his childhood outside the US and maintains contact with relations as far away as East Africa allows him to transcend the inhibitions of black Americans.”
3.) Racial Divides– He offers “African Americans an opportunity to get their first black President and whites the chance to transcend the tired racial divides of the past.”
4.) Racial Wounds– “By allowing voters to both vent their anger and overcome it, while embodying the transcendence of America’s racial wound, Barack Obama offers not just hope, but alchemy.”
5.) Certain Kinds of Politics: “Every time either Clinton or one of their surrogates attack Mr. Obama, they stand as reminders of the kind of politics that Mr. Obama has vowed to transcend.”
6.) Politics, power politics, and the politics of blue and red state: “Obama once transcended our politics, or so the fawning media narrative goes, allegedly transcending the politics of race, the old power politics, the politics of division between those red and blue states.”
7.) Class barriers: ‘His supporters point to his extraordinary intellect, his work as a civil rights lawyer and lecturer in constitutional law, his charismatic talent to inspire and his ability to transcend both racial and class barriers.”
8.) Categories: Steele notes Obama “seems to have little talent for anger.” That’s because Obama has opted out of the transaction Steele vigorously deplores. The political implications of this transcendence of confining categories are many, profound and encouraging.
9.) Baby Boomer Angst: “And this conservative believes Obama can help us transcend baby boomer angst.”
10.) Old Politics: “I don’t think that Obama’s rhetoric about transcending old politics tells us much about how he’ll actually govern.”
11.) Washington’s endemic partisanship– “Obama ran as a conciliator who would transcend Washington’s endemic partisanship by building new coalitions.”
12.) Political Parties, generations, and nations: “Obama’s appeal would transcend political parties, generations, and nations.”
13.)
Blackness and Whiteness: “There are lots of discussions about how Obama will “transcend race”…this is usually read as “transcending blackness”…but Obama must also (as Williams alludes to) “transcend” his whiteness and the increasing narrow expectations and contradiction of what makes a leader and “a black leader.”
14.) Polarization: “The polarization Obama wishes to transcend in this country has not emerged simply because of the combative style of Newt Gingrich or Karl Rove.”
15.) Tedious conflict between the opposing strands of the baby-boomer generation– “Other writers projected into the Iowa caucus victory nothing less than an end to the “culture wars” and now tedious conflict between the opposing strands of the baby-boomer generation: the Haight-Ashbury hippies and the Rush Limbaugh rednecks. One usually sober Britisher seemed to suggest that the responsibility for the hatreds that have divided Americans socially rested almost entirely with two families: the Bushes and the Clintons. Now, with the help of galvanised youth, Mr Obama could transcend all this.”
Personally, the closer I look at Obama and his unity pony, the less I like. However, even I have to agree he has ‘transcended’ a lot of things.
*** Update ***
Obama has apparently “transcended” child labor laws.