McCain's in a Heath of Trouble As Christian Bales Out Obama

You're going to think this is so silly and unlike me, but I finally read the New Yorker article with the Obamas cartoonized on the cover...I know, two weeks late!, I've been kinda busy.

The reason why I say you're going to think this is silly is because reading the article inspired me to write about The Dark Knight, the only movie that has out-raised Obama's campaign this year. The reason why you're going to think this is unlike me is because I have literally been blown away by the article, titled "Making It: How Chicago shaped Obama" by Ryan Lizza, to the point that I am SERIOUSLY re-considering my candidate of choice. No lie.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm still in McCain's camp. I'm sure there are a lot of Black readers pissed at me, but they're probably not nearly as pissed as the college-educated, middle-to-upper class white readers I have. Real talk.

The only difference between now and before is that the odds for me voting for McCain in November are now 51-49 instead of the 55-45 they were sitting at for the last 14 months or so when I initially insisted to friends that McCain - at the time facing a tough Republican field - and Obama ("no way he's gonna beat Hillary") would in fact go head-to-head.

Anyway, the reason why the article made me think about The Dark Knight, which I saw for the second time last Friday, was because I have long felt that this country needs a Batman. A guy that looks presidential like Bruce Wayne yet kicks ass in a dark alley like Batman. A guy that takes the risks and makes the decisions no other man is willing to make when faced with a tough one.

Oddly enough, this election has given us two candidates who - regardless of age or physical fitness - share many experiences and qualities with the Cape Crusader. Bruce Wayne's family was affluent and established much like McCain's was in the Navy's leadership, but Wayne lost his father as a child (shot by a mugger) much like Obama when he was abandoned by his Kenyan dad.

While Batman Begins, the predecessor to The Dark Knight, showed us Wayne's transition from rich kid to self-righteous crime fighter, Faith of My Fathers shares McCain's transition from Naval Academy black sheep to Republican Party maverick and Dreams From My Father shares Obama's journey from a kid searching for identity to a Chicagoan looking to give his city (he was running for a State Senate seat) a better future.

For awhile though, I looked into McCain's life experiences - growing up the son and grandson of admirals, the Naval Academy, POW in Hanoi, his Congressional record, his bi-partisan efforts on major issues such as campaign finance reform and immigration - and felt he best embodied the true qualities of Batman. I mean the family legacy (Navy/Wayne Enterprises), the battle to find his true character (Vietnam/Gotham) and his willingness to work with others (Democrats/Commissioner Gordon) all matched up.

On the other hand, while Obama shares many qualities with Bruce Wayne's alter ego, he seemed to have a little too much Clark Kent in him as well. The odd entry into American society (Indonesia/Krypton), the naivete, the woman he's so dependent on (Michelle/Lois Lane), the glaring weakness (experience/Kryponite). It came as no surprise to me that many of my friends have Superman-like hopes for what an Obama presidency can do for this country. They wear his O on their t-shirts and bumpers like a Superman S.

As indestructible as a diamond and as consistent as a circle.

But then I saw The Dark Knight for a second time and read Lizza's article and it's like I had an awakening and I somehow understood both Batman and Obama for the first time. And that's a lot considering how much I've read up on both the character and the candidate over the years.

I know you're going to be upset with me, but I'm not going to recap movie or the article for a very specific reason: the movie is too incredible to not see it (I'm talking top three action movies in the last 20 years with the first Matrix and Bourne Ultimatum) and the article is too informative to not read it (easily the best article in the New Yorker's election coverage).

And, honestly, this election is too important for you to take my word for it.

Instead, I'll just end with a few more words about how I may have been wrong about Obama all along. There's a part toward the end of the article where Lizza writes the following:

"Another transition from primary to general election is now under way for Obama, and it is causing him a similar set of problems, all of which stem from a realization among his supporters that superheroes don't become President; politicians do."

Lizza continues:

"Judging by the reaction to Obama's most recent decisions - his willingness to support legislation to modify the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, his rightward shift on interpreting the Second Amendment, his decision to "refine" his Iraq policies - some voters will be crushed by this realization and others will be relieved."

Count me in the camp of those relieved.

For months now, I have listened as friend after friend have lauded Obama's charisma and oratory skills and "look and feel" as if he were auditioning for a role in a Hollywood flick where everything must go perfectly. Initially, I hadn't been able to look outside of these interpretations of Obama as a person because, quite frankly, that flick has become an Oscar-worthy, blockbuster hit in the last 6 months...until recently when I started seeing the kinds of calculated decisions that only a man ready for the presidency are capable of making. Some people call it flip-flopping, I call it politicking.

Meanwhile, McCain has been running a campaign a lot like a typical movie studio looking to parlay on interest in a certain mix of conservatism and compassion. He's using the Spielberg/Carville approach in many regards. It's like trying to do another Mission Impossible movie...we've seen it all before and, like Tom Cruise, we're ready for something new. But, here I am, a fan of Tom Cruise. I liked Mission Impossible III. I don't think the couch incident ruined him anymore than McCain's siding with Bush on Iraq over the years. Only marginally.

What really hit me though, while watching The Dark Knight and reading "Making It", was that Obama may not be as inexperienced and unprepared and clean as I once considered him. Underneath those white gloves are some hard knuckles, it seems.

True, McCain has shown a level of vigor and grit needed to succeed in our Gotham that is Washington, but - as The Dark Knight proves - there's something to be gained from having two sides of a coin as Obama does: the change agent and the Chicago bull.

So maybe Obama is capable of being our dark knight and not just our knight in shining armor. I'm not talking Two Face, I'm talking two ways to get to the same odds.

50-50.

That's about where I'm headed.

I just hope McCain doesn't go the way of Heath Ledger's Joker...a great adversary in a movie where everyone showed up for the other guy.