I would like to get more caught up in Obamamania than I am. The truth is that I have plenty of doubts about him. But I've known, pretty much since the Democratic field took shape, that I would be supporting him. The reason is very simple.
Iraq.
The Iraq war combines all of the worst impulses of American politics into one steaming pile: mindless militarism, misguided patriotism, a failure to see the likely consequences of American policy, media cheerleading, opposition weakness, and shameless opportunism.
Everyone who supported the war was wrong, wrong in ways that were obvious from the start, wrong in ways that have badly damaged our standing in the world, trashed our economy, and cost countless lives. It's been the greatest foreign policy disaster of my generation, and anyone who backed it is automatically disqualified from being president in my view.
And so that leaves me with Obama, the only candidate remaining in the race (and the only serious contender) to oppose the war. There's plenty to nitpick about, and his detractors have done so. There's plenty to worry about going forward, i.e. what's he going to do if elected.
But this election isn't about any of that for me. It's about accountability. If you're too stupid to get the Iraq War right, you're too stupid, or craven, to be president.
If politicians aren't punished for being stupid and craven, even on a disaster this huge, they will go on doing it because they will know that even a Democratic party primary electorate won't hold them to account. Politicians will go on supporting stupid wars because they will know there is no downside to it. I was disappointed not to have more choices on the Democratic side who opposed the war, but that shows the power of the pro-war forces in American politics. That dynamic must be broken.
Hillary Clinton can't be the Democratic Party nominee because her selection will ratify the Iraq War as the right political call.