I realize that I'm posting way too much these days, but I'm finding this a very useful place to record what I'm thinking about. Last night I watched Barack Obama's 30-minute informercial. When I first heard about it I was very skeptical and thought it was really over the top to buy 30 minutes of political advertising in prime time. I found it pretty interesting and not creepy at all. In fact there was a moment when he spoke about stories that I found incredibly moving. Basically, he says that everyone has a story, and that he wants to learn from those stories to make the U.S. a better place.
As a literature professor and someone who specializes in prose fiction, I am obsessed with stories. I always say that we tell ourselves stories to make sense of ourselves. It appears that Obama has really tapped into this notion of the American story as a tool for helping people feel better about themselves and their country. It can of course be a dangerous tool of propaganda, but with altruistic intentions, I do think that Obama's mastery of narrative could actually improve the morale and reputation of this country. At least I really hope so.
And then, of course, I had a very vivid dream about talking with Obama and telling him my story. It was very comforting. I was in a yarn store (of course) that he made a campaign stop at and I showed him two things: a map of the U.S., where I pointed to Bellingham (my home town) up in the very far northwest corner, and then my Dad, who was lurking in the background with massive amounts of camera equipment. I can't remember what Obama said, except that it was comforting and I felt understood, respected, and valued.
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