Spartan Daily - Serving San Jose State University since 1934

Issue date: 3/3/08 Section: Opinion

Kevin Rand

"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do," said former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden.

It sounds like the mantra one of our country's current presidential hopefuls has been chanting his entire life - especially considering how his speeches are powered by similar words, and how the country is starting to believe in him, if it hasn't already.

With the type of oratory he delivers, he is distinguished from the rest of the candidates, politics aside.

And an inspired public is not only buying into, but is also voting for, his ideals: hope and change.

He spoke of "hope" not being "blind optimism" during his Wisconsin speech, and at this point, voters have not much choice but to be blindly optimistic.

Sure beats pessimism.

A "feel good" president might be all this country needs to rejuvenate its economy and to restore its public image.

His comparisons to John F. Kennedy are fair.

"… Ask what you can do for your country," Kennedy said.

And after eight years of having a mistake sitting in the White House, who can argue against a little more like-minded inspiration?

What ultimately defines a president's legacy is public opinion - and public morale determines that opinion.

I wasn't around when Kennedy served, but if you ask anybody who was, they'll tell you he was beloved.

Here's another inspirational message: "Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right."

That was Henry Ford.

Whether we're being tricked into believing we can - can recover from the war in Iraq and can come back from the economic crisis - or are being genuinely motivated, the can-do energy from the public is already proving to be momentous.

People are voting in record numbers.

People are voting Democratic in record numbers.

These same people will be around in January 2009, many of them for the following four years.

Perhaps his rhetoric, his soapboxing and his evangelizing overshadow his "specifics."

But I think it's fair to say that the public is tired of specifics. Specifics are usually promises that are specifically empty. That's why John Edwards is gone, and that's why Mitt Romney collapsed.

I'm sure the two believed at least half of what they were saying, but they did not inspire enough people to even consider that they were saying anything.

It's simple: We're in a war most of us now realize we should have never started; the real-estate boom has become a bust; medical insurance is a bigger rip-off than university textbooks; and we can't keep track of all the secretary-general-of-state-amajigs who've come and gone in the last eight years.

Something's been going wrong. Everybody thinks they know the answer, and every answer varies.

If Mr. "The Audacity of Hope" wins, people will be happy. People will be so happy that other people will be mad that they are happy.

"I can't believe he won," we'll all say, politics aside.

And for the majority, if that day happens, that little bit of belief might go a long way.

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