Othello

As we’ve seen with Bobby Jindal and Hurricane Katrina, times of crisis are enormous opportunities for minority candidates. No one wishes for a crisis, but atypical politicians position themselves to be ready when one arises. And when the usual tactics fail, people are willing to turn to the minority, or the creative guy, or the female candidate, or the guy wearing Doc Martens, and give them a shot.

The national disaster known as Dubya brought Obama to prominence in the first place. In political fortunes, he is Jindal’s twin. The opportunity inherent in crisis has been known to man since the dawn of politics. Moors, janissaries and hockey moms have been elevated, wars begun, constitutions shredded. The current financial crisis is beginning to seal Obama’s fate. When your house is ablaze, you don’t line up firefighters for a skin color cattle call:

The economy changes the dynamics so much that people don’t care what race, or creed, or gender you are. If the economy is in such decay, they’re going to want somebody who can make a change. [Politico]

… the collapse of Wall Street in the last weeks was a seminal event in the history of our nation and our politics. To put the crisis in perspective, Americans have lost a combined $1 trillion in net worth in just the last four weeks alone… This is a big election about big issues. McCain’s smallball will not work. This race will not be decided by lipsticked pigs. [TNR]

The survey found just 12% of voters who say the country is headed in the right direction. That’s the lowest number recorded in four decades… [WSJ]

To be clear, no one’s happy to sacrifice most of their savings to elect a minority. That’s a hell of an involuntary campaign contribution. And Obama’s victory isn’t guaranteed — polls have been poor predictors before, and Obama has to be far enough ahead to overcome any hidden racist vote:

… if Obama does not head into Nov. 4 with a lead of at least several points in the polls, there is a good chance he’ll be swamped by prejudice that will flourish in the privacy of the voting booth. [Politico]

But the potential election of a man who would ban torture, end a pointless war and shore up the financial system is the very definition of a silver lining. Check out the slope of that blue line — dy/dx indeed:

Previously: Masters of disaster