Mara Gordon | Catching Obama fever

I have a confession to make: I'm a Hillary Clinton fan.

I'm always a little reluctant to tell people about my love for the former first lady. It seems so tragically uncool - the kind of thing that Midwestern soccer moms do, not urban college kids.

Obama-mania has hit Penn, and it's hit hard. Being a Clinton fan these days seems almost akin to being - gasp - Republican.

All last fall, I was reluctant to pick a side in the great Clinton vs. Obama debate. Everybody seemed to have such intense opinions on the matter, but I couldn't really see that much difference between their policies.

I also didn't think that as a Pennsylvania Democrat, my vote would mean much in our April primary. (Since the candidates are still neck-in-neck, however, Pennsylvania could end up being a crucial primary state.)

I eventually went over to the Clinton camp when I got to hear her speak in person at the Democratic debate at Drexel last October.

My reasons for liking her weren't particularly unique. She's smart, she's experienced, and she supports the closest thing to universal healthcare any of the candidates will admit to supporting. I think she would make a great president.

That being said, I think almost any of the Democratic candidates would be better than George W. Bush. I liked John Edwards' war on poverty; I liked Bill Richardson's emphasis on education. And yes, I even get a little teary-eyed when I hear Obama give one of his inspirational speeches.

And that's exactly what makes me different from the Obama supporters at Penn.

They're passionate. They love to proselytize. They've got those cute Barack the Vote T-shirts. Right here on our campus, we've got a full-on Obama cult.

My friends' apartments are plastered with Obama signs. My News Feed on Facebook is filled with anti-Hillary articles. It seems like every day on Locust Walk, somebody new is harassing me to buy one of those T-shirts.

Don't get me wrong. I think it's great that people are getting excited about a candidate, especially a Democratic one.

But I'm worried that if a campus as left-wing as Penn's is so bitterly divided, how can our nation possibly unite behind one Democratic nominee come November?

Whenever the presidential election comes up in casual conversation, I find myself in fights to the death about why I'm a Clinton supporter. My Obama-loving friends use every trick in the book to turn me into one of them.

He gives us a sense of hope! He didn't vote for the war in Iraq! A black president is more revolutionary than a woman!

I know, I tell them, which is why I'd be almost as happy to vote for him in November if he's the nominee.

The Clinton fans at Penn, on the other hand, take a much more understated approach.

"We have buttons," said Penn for Hillary spokesman Patrick Bauer, a College freshman. "We're not that artistic or creative. They've one-upped us on the shirts. I think I'll cede them that fight."

But who said it needed to be a fight at all? I've spoken with plenty of Obama fans who say they're eager to do whatever it takes to return some sanity to the White House, even if it means voting for Clinton. But I've met an equal number with a terrifying devotion to their candidate and his Messiah complex.

Take Famid Sinha, a College senior who serves as the national communications director for the nationwide group Students for Barack Obama. He and I had a long conversation about his grassroots work for the campaign, and I'm impressed with his idealism and political savvy.

I asked him if he would consider voting for Clinton if Obama drops out of the race for some reason.

"I'm not going to commit to that," he said. I pressed him.

"She's a great candidate," he admitted.

So you'd vote for her?

"I don't want to commit to that. I just don't want to commit to anything."

I know not every Democrat is a knee-jerk one, and I don't think everyone needs to support both candidates equally.

But Obama fever has reached an evangelical high here on campus, and it's leaving me with the uncomfortable feeling that I haven't drunk the Kool-Aid. If Democrats are going to win the White House, we're going to have to mend this split - and we're going to have to start right here at Penn.

Mara Gordon is a College senior from Washington, D.C. Her e-mail is gordon@dailypennsylvanian.com. Flash Gordon appears on Wednesdays.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.