Thursday, January 24, 2008
NYC Democrats have a new issue – the Obama candidacy
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
There is a new phenomenon on the American political scene that moves those of us who want to think ahead to 2008 to revise our political criteria, first in the basics of electability vs. ideas. What is more important – voting for a set of principles or for the candidate least disagreeable for the most people?
Most voters will resolve it by looking for electability first. In the Democratic Party there has not been much choice, the alternatives were Hillary and non-Hillary, i.e. the field, until Barack Obama decided to consider running. If the junior senator from Illinois had not appeared on the scene at the 2004 Democratic Convention, he would have to have been invented, to pull a politics-tired electorate out of the doldrums of internecine/ partisan/ negative politics. It is not that what he says is so different, it is that he is different, totally counter to the image of a standard politician, young-looking and handsome in a way that clearly shows his mother’s Kansan and his father’s Kenyan heritage.
A product of a broken family, brought up in Hawaii and Indonesia, mainly by his maternal grandparents, graduate of Columbia and Harvard Law (president of the Law Review), author of two books, a father of two and a Christian, he looks like someone who could bring on an era of new politics, of post-partisan and post-civil rights struggle climate, and give us a positive outlook. A law professor with a major dose of cool charisma uncommon for his age, he speaks without screaming or rousing the masses with fighting words, and conveys trustworthiness just by being straight and seeming to mean what he says.
A Republican campaign manager characterizes him as Reagan-likeable, and a Jimmy Stewart “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” comparison has surfaced. Interestingly, his biggest weakness — lack of experience in national politics — becomes an asset Catch the tenor of what he says: "The decisions that have been made in Washington these past six years, and the problems that have been ignored, have put our country in a precarious place." “America has faced big problems before, but today, our leaders in Washington seem incapable of working together in a practical, commonsense way. Politics has become so bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence, that we can't tackle the big problems that demand solutions." “Americans are struggling financially, dependence on foreign oil threatens the environment and national security and we are still mired in a tragic and costly war that should have never been waged."
These are not dynamic words, but he seems to mean them. As to whether Americans will be able to swallow the lump in their throats and vote for Obama, in the primary and in a general election, is an interesting question. The voters would have readily accepted General Colin Powell, an established rock of reliability with 35 distinguished years of military duty and subsequent government service, also a 2nd generation American, a Bronx kid and CCNY grad, but this youngster… But as of the moment the disgust with old politics is so far-reaching, that he may be seen as the only hope, not just domestically but even more so abroad, to slow down the Iraqi, Iranian, North Korean, Venezuelan, European and other enemities of the old US foreign policy, and give a fresh start to the tired negotiations. The pictures alone, on TV everywhere, repeatedly, of a young person, looking like “them,” not only an ethnic but a true Third-Worlder, not just working for The Man but being The Man himself, he should make them pause and give the US at least a year of of time for reacquiring the democratic stature we have lost.
So Democratic Sen. of Illinois Barack Obama is taking the initial step in a presidential bid that could make him the nation's first Black to occupy the White House. He will announce more about his plans in his home state of Illinois on Feb. 10. "I certainly didn't expect to find myself in this position a year ago," Obama explains, "I have been struck by how hungry we all are for a different kind of politics. So I have spent some time thinking about how I could best advance the cause of change and progress that we so desperately need." Obama’ s decision has now forced Sen. Clinton to actually step forward, with an exploratory committee of her own, taking the attention and the money-givers away from Obama as well as from the field, the other Democrats who have announced campaigns or exploratory committees, 2004 vice presidential nominee John Edwards, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.
The Democratic clubs of New York City, such as the four in our 74th Ad (Tilden, Eleanor Roosevelt, GSID and CODA), currently resting and enjoying their victories in the 2006 election, may want to start addressing the redefined 2008 issues And now Gov. William Richardson of New Mexico is reopening the thinking about his candidacy in 2008. This suddenly offers a kind of dream ticket for fixing the world, with Obama as the front man and Richardson as the negotiator. Just thinking out loud.
There is a new phenomenon on the American political scene that moves those of us who want to think ahead to 2008 to revise our political criteria, first in the basics of electability vs. ideas. What is more important – voting for a set of principles or for the candidate least disagreeable for the most people?
Most voters will resolve it by looking for electability first. In the Democratic Party there has not been much choice, the alternatives were Hillary and non-Hillary, i.e. the field, until Barack Obama decided to consider running. If the junior senator from Illinois had not appeared on the scene at the 2004 Democratic Convention, he would have to have been invented, to pull a politics-tired electorate out of the doldrums of internecine/ partisan/ negative politics. It is not that what he says is so different, it is that he is different, totally counter to the image of a standard politician, young-looking and handsome in a way that clearly shows his mother’s Kansan and his father’s Kenyan heritage.
A product of a broken family, brought up in Hawaii and Indonesia, mainly by his maternal grandparents, graduate of Columbia and Harvard Law (president of the Law Review), author of two books, a father of two and a Christian, he looks like someone who could bring on an era of new politics, of post-partisan and post-civil rights struggle climate, and give us a positive outlook. A law professor with a major dose of cool charisma uncommon for his age, he speaks without screaming or rousing the masses with fighting words, and conveys trustworthiness just by being straight and seeming to mean what he says.
A Republican campaign manager characterizes him as Reagan-likeable, and a Jimmy Stewart “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” comparison has surfaced. Interestingly, his biggest weakness — lack of experience in national politics — becomes an asset Catch the tenor of what he says: "The decisions that have been made in Washington these past six years, and the problems that have been ignored, have put our country in a precarious place." “America has faced big problems before, but today, our leaders in Washington seem incapable of working together in a practical, commonsense way. Politics has become so bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence, that we can't tackle the big problems that demand solutions." “Americans are struggling financially, dependence on foreign oil threatens the environment and national security and we are still mired in a tragic and costly war that should have never been waged."
These are not dynamic words, but he seems to mean them. As to whether Americans will be able to swallow the lump in their throats and vote for Obama, in the primary and in a general election, is an interesting question. The voters would have readily accepted General Colin Powell, an established rock of reliability with 35 distinguished years of military duty and subsequent government service, also a 2nd generation American, a Bronx kid and CCNY grad, but this youngster… But as of the moment the disgust with old politics is so far-reaching, that he may be seen as the only hope, not just domestically but even more so abroad, to slow down the Iraqi, Iranian, North Korean, Venezuelan, European and other enemities of the old US foreign policy, and give a fresh start to the tired negotiations. The pictures alone, on TV everywhere, repeatedly, of a young person, looking like “them,” not only an ethnic but a true Third-Worlder, not just working for The Man but being The Man himself, he should make them pause and give the US at least a year of of time for reacquiring the democratic stature we have lost.
So Democratic Sen. of Illinois Barack Obama is taking the initial step in a presidential bid that could make him the nation's first Black to occupy the White House. He will announce more about his plans in his home state of Illinois on Feb. 10. "I certainly didn't expect to find myself in this position a year ago," Obama explains, "I have been struck by how hungry we all are for a different kind of politics. So I have spent some time thinking about how I could best advance the cause of change and progress that we so desperately need." Obama’ s decision has now forced Sen. Clinton to actually step forward, with an exploratory committee of her own, taking the attention and the money-givers away from Obama as well as from the field, the other Democrats who have announced campaigns or exploratory committees, 2004 vice presidential nominee John Edwards, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.
The Democratic clubs of New York City, such as the four in our 74th Ad (Tilden, Eleanor Roosevelt, GSID and CODA), currently resting and enjoying their victories in the 2006 election, may want to start addressing the redefined 2008 issues And now Gov. William Richardson of New Mexico is reopening the thinking about his candidacy in 2008. This suddenly offers a kind of dream ticket for fixing the world, with Obama as the front man and Richardson as the negotiator. Just thinking out loud.
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 9:29 PM 
