It's less about what he stands for than who he is. Or, more importantly, who he is not. He is not the 'dry drunk' privileged frat-boy psychopath who has ostensibly been running this country for the past 7.5 years. He is not the power and profit-mad psychopath who thinks the US government exists to enrich him and his oil buddies that has *actually* been running the country the past 7.5 years. He is not the psychically-damaged veteran of a pointless war who is trying to strike back at his torturers or, by proxy, anyone else he perceives as a 'threat'. He is not the ultra-ambitious triangulation-mad woman who, along with her husband, thinks that the way for the Democratic party to gain and hold power is to sell out every principle of the party. He is not one of the delusional quasi-Libertarian gadflies who thinks everything would be hunky-dory again if the government would just get out of the way (subprime mortgage meltdown, anyone?). Nor, alas, is he Dennis Kucinich, John Edwards, or Bernie Sanders. But he is a good deal better person than any of the other people who were actually able to raise money and votes to run for the job. Perhaps he should change his name to Barak Somewhat-Sane Obama to contrast himself more clearly against the other candidates. . . .