As most avid political watchers I was impressed with Obama in 2004 at the DNC convention. He was remarkably clear with his ideas and comforting in his remarks. I also saw a difference. A difference from the stiff Kerry and the mushy Clinton, Obama was a bridge. The crowd wanted a new face and a clear message of cooperation and bipartisanship. The crowd wanted a leader and a listener. They screamed for a commander and a public servant. Obama was not tied to the floor or over intellectual, he was American.
With 2 weeks left until the 2006 mid-term elections and GOP candidates pointing fingers and blaming everyone from Howard Dean to Nancy Pelosi for the illness which is the Bush agenda, we see a star of such magnitude that the difference of the past 6 years have coalesced into one man. This man is Obama.
I am waiting for his new book, Audacity of Hope, to arrive and will finish it with an eye to the future. It is refreshing that a politician is not only literate but imaginative and sincere. Proof of this mixture was evident in his Meet the Press interview this past Sunday when Tim Russert tried to back him into a corner with statements Obama had made about running for president last year. Obama had previously stated that he would not run however in this recent interview revealed that things have changed and he was considering the option more seriously. This is an example of forthrightness which is sorely lacking in politics. He did not try to erase what he said nor may amends; he was honest. His mind had changed due to recent events. That is called thinking and those in the press, and the public for that matter, have not be around leaders who think for such a long time that it is now become a novelty.
Most importantly, Obama is a bridge over the last great hurdle of civil war reconstruction and the civil rights movement. His presidency will heal the wounds of the past and ignite the future for all Americans. This nation is without a captain or a rudder. We are still chasing the whale and need to step back before we kill ourselves. It is not too early for Obama to make a run at the oval office; carpe diem is more American then ‘wait your turn’. America deserves a man like Obama, white, black, foreign and educated. Obama will be tried like all candidates and dirt will be smeared and lies will be codified. However, he does exemplify the one thing which is absent in this nation, hope.
2 Comments:
Don't fall into the lure of Obama so quickly -- he has set himself up above the fray, looking down on all the feuding minions as if all they need to do is look up for the answers. The answers, of course, are not there, just the appearance that he may know more than all the others.
And Obama has done this luring? He has placed himself on this so-called pedestal? Before I place judgment I will do my research. I will not bow to the musing of rhetorical pundits. It is clear that when we are unaware of a political new comer we are swift to crush any hope. If we are to be an active citizen we need to go beyond Time and Newsweek articles to his congressional record and of course read his own viewpoint. Take a moment to read his books and see if the hype created around him is warranted. Obama is a reflection of America, this can not be denied. However, citizens must make their own informed decisions about this upstart.
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