I’m sure I’m not alone of this one, but it certainly seemed a dark juxtaposition that the elections yesterday afternoon were marred by an bizarre line of tornado-spawning storms.

It reminded me of the powerful storms in Gaiman’s American Gods that were manifestations of the pantheons of gods at war. In the novel, the climactic battle erupted on Lookout Mountain, at Rock City, right on the Tennessee-Georgia border, where the storms passed. Odd. Only these tornadoes are very real and real people got hurt, displaced, and killed.
In the democratic race, I was, once again, disappointed by California. What has happened to that place? It seems like forever I’ve been wanting to move there (the Bay Area), but after this — and Arnold, too — I’m going to have to take it off my list. Whatever has happened there has been going on a long time, and the bad guys are winning. Perhaps I am just a victim of the hype and my own naivety. This, I think, leaves only New Zealand on my list.

Despite California, however, it looks like Obama and Clinton are running neck and neck. I had to actually imagine what it would feel like if the candidate who inspired me for the first time of any American politician (in his speech at the 2004 Democratic convention) didn’t become the democratic candidate. I had to imagine sucking it up, and dragging my once again deflated hopes with me to the polling place in November, and filling in the little circle next to Hillary’s name with black.

This morning, I came across something (by way of Caterina Fake) that improved my mood. It is a video by Lawrence Lessig, contrasting Clinton and Obama and in particular, looking at the idea of moral character and courage, integrity and principle. I think it is a very useful video to watch: straightforward, with detailed examples and, best of all, without empty hype.

Watch it.

In watching this video, I realized that I use a double-standard when it comes to politics. Like the wronged person who seeks out the biggest shark of an attorney to avenge the wrong, I had, at a certain level, begun to believe that you need to be able to play dirty to win. It’s an old cultural myth of masculine power.

However, my enlightened self knows better, knows that maintaining a state of integrity with one’s self, one’s words, and one’s actions is where true power derives, and gives us an empowered language that can actually sculpt reality. And my artistic self knows that in story, character is revealed through action.  This is equally true in life.

My favourite phrase in the video, applied to the Clinton campaign’s “swiftboating” attacks on Obama’s solid stance on the war, is “Rovean Democrats.” This video really solidified my understanding of the nature of the underlying discomfort I have with Hillary, but which I had previously been too policy-focused and resigned to my weak expectations of the political machine to see. Thank you, Larry, for the video.