President Obama? Only One Way to Find Out
Mike Healy
October 24, 2006
“The pundits, the pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an "awesome God" in the Blue States, and we don’t like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and yes, we’ve got some gay friends in the Red States…
In the end -- In the end -- In the end, that’s what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or do we participate in a politics of hope?”
Illinois junior Senator Barack Obama made the important announcement Sunday that he isn’t not running for president in 2008. In all honesty, I don’t know if Sen. Obama has any realistic chance of winning the general election, or even the Democratic nomination, for that matter. Heck, I don’t even know if I’d vote for him. What I do know, though, is that he needs to run.
Sure, the good Senator is a relative newbie to national politics. Yes, there’s a very strong chance this country isn’t ready to elect a black president, much less one whose name first and last names show up as mistakes on spell check. All of that is irrelevant. What’s important is the fact that a presidential bid by Barack Obama is the best course of action for Barack Obama and the best course of action for the United States in general.
To speak to the personal ambitions of the Senator, the time will likely never be better for Mr. Obama to make a White House move than it is right now. He is a well known, well liked Senator (perhaps the most endangered species of American animal) with a clear voice and a clear mission. As such, not only is he not encumbered with a lengthy and politically dangerous voting record, but also refreshingly free of the tedious demands imposed by establishment Democratic interest groups --- as the current flavor of the year, he doesn’t need them. In another few years, that might not be true.
As such, Sen. Obama is blessed right now with the rare opportunity to bring us the new kind of politics he says we so desperately need. Whether there is actual steak behind the Senator’s sizzle or not, America needs Barack Obama to run for president because he is a man who has the potential to accomplish the monumental task of making Americans again excited and inspired by their politics and government, rather than disgusted by them. He could be a candidate people didn’t feel they had to hold their nose to vote for, something not many Americans have felt they had access to in recent years.
To address the cautious words of those urging Mr. Obama to wait an election or to to throw his hat in the ring ---- why? What for? Should Barack Obama decide to defer a presidential run out of fear of losing and thus torpedoing later opportunities, it would merely show him to be as calculating and cynical as all the rest of the politicians he currently enjoys distinction from. This would be a shame not only for Mr. Obama’s personal future, but it would rob America of a chance to choose a leader who really may be a uniter and not a divider. As for the more venerable concerns that Sen. Obama may not be ready for the actual responsibilities of the Oval Office, I would offer to point out that, if elected, a President Obama would not even be the most inexperienced commander-in-chief Illinois has ever produced: in Janurary of 2009 he would have four years’ time in national elected office more than Abraham Lincoln.
In the end -- In the end -- In the end, that’s what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or do we participate in a politics of hope?”
Illinois junior Senator Barack Obama made the important announcement Sunday that he isn’t not running for president in 2008. In all honesty, I don’t know if Sen. Obama has any realistic chance of winning the general election, or even the Democratic nomination, for that matter. Heck, I don’t even know if I’d vote for him. What I do know, though, is that he needs to run.
Sure, the good Senator is a relative newbie to national politics. Yes, there’s a very strong chance this country isn’t ready to elect a black president, much less one whose name first and last names show up as mistakes on spell check. All of that is irrelevant. What’s important is the fact that a presidential bid by Barack Obama is the best course of action for Barack Obama and the best course of action for the United States in general.
To speak to the personal ambitions of the Senator, the time will likely never be better for Mr. Obama to make a White House move than it is right now. He is a well known, well liked Senator (perhaps the most endangered species of American animal) with a clear voice and a clear mission. As such, not only is he not encumbered with a lengthy and politically dangerous voting record, but also refreshingly free of the tedious demands imposed by establishment Democratic interest groups --- as the current flavor of the year, he doesn’t need them. In another few years, that might not be true.
As such, Sen. Obama is blessed right now with the rare opportunity to bring us the new kind of politics he says we so desperately need. Whether there is actual steak behind the Senator’s sizzle or not, America needs Barack Obama to run for president because he is a man who has the potential to accomplish the monumental task of making Americans again excited and inspired by their politics and government, rather than disgusted by them. He could be a candidate people didn’t feel they had to hold their nose to vote for, something not many Americans have felt they had access to in recent years.
To address the cautious words of those urging Mr. Obama to wait an election or to to throw his hat in the ring ---- why? What for? Should Barack Obama decide to defer a presidential run out of fear of losing and thus torpedoing later opportunities, it would merely show him to be as calculating and cynical as all the rest of the politicians he currently enjoys distinction from. This would be a shame not only for Mr. Obama’s personal future, but it would rob America of a chance to choose a leader who really may be a uniter and not a divider. As for the more venerable concerns that Sen. Obama may not be ready for the actual responsibilities of the Oval Office, I would offer to point out that, if elected, a President Obama would not even be the most inexperienced commander-in-chief Illinois has ever produced: in Janurary of 2009 he would have four years’ time in national elected office more than Abraham Lincoln.
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