The Democratic Convention is currently on. There’s no escaping it if you turn on MSNBC. You’d think it’s the only newsworthy event out there. Senator Obama picked Senator Biden as his running mate who I’m hoping will turn out to be less of a Sith Lord than VP Cheney.

What strikes me most about Obama is that he reminds me a lot of the good qualities of Batman’s Harvey Dent before he becomes Two Face. Much like All the King’s Men’s Willie Stark, Obama is the beacon of hope for a lot of disgruntled Americans right now after eight long years that have greatly damaged the opinion of our country within the global public sphere. Much like in the Dark Knight, I think a good portion of Americans so desperately want to believe in America and her ideals. They want to have hope that Obama can restore a golden era to a country whose economy has been sullied by two never-ending, uncontrollable wars, rising fuel costs, a collapsing aviation industry, natural disasters (some people still don’t have their houses back after Katrina!!!), etc.

So two things worry me most about Obama. He may not live up to his own hype. I think we want him to be this hero so badly, that if he turns out to just be a pretty decent politician, we’ll be disappointed. But I guess he needs to win the presidency before we can even measure that. I just would hate to see him fall like Dent or Stark. Albeit those are fictitious characters (though Stark is based on Huey Long), I think one can learn something from both characters. They’re people who are so grounded in ideals that once things start going right, it’s easy for corruption to set in. I wanted to support Edwards. I wanted to believe in him when others called him an ambulance chaser. Now Edwards is just another immoral politician. I hope Obama is better. I hope he lives up to the hype. I want him to. The other thing that worries me about Obama is that someone might do something stupid. I am truthfully worried that someone might go after Obama if he’s elected (or even en route). I have very mixed feelings about Senator Biden. This isn’t going to deter me from supporting Obama, but there is certainly racism still in America. I would hate to see Obama end up as a martyr rather than as a great president.

On the flip side, I don’t  think McCain is a bad dude. At this time, I no longer agree with the neoliberal ideals of the Republican party at president, but I don’t think McCain himself is bad. In fact, I even think George W. has good INTENTIONS. He might have no idea how he’s messed things up so much. The overall approach to the neoliberal movement across the world seems to increase social stratification and only benefit certain people. I want to believe that everyone should have a shot to be more. It’s tough to support economic and political policies that benefit less than the majority of a nation.

So I’ll conclude with a line from the Dark Knight: “The night is always darkest before dawn.” I hope America gets her hero, and I hope that hero does not become a Two Face.