The Moderate Voice occassionally runs Guest Voice posts from readers. This is by Kevin Anderson, a 23 year old college student in Ohio.
By Kevin Anderson
Barack Obama.
Just uttering those two words, especially in Democratic Party circles, can get many hearts fluttering. And why not?
His speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention was the stuff of rhetorical greatness. His general avoidance of Rovian-style partisanship has endeared him to many non-ideological Americans. Of course, he also has a truckload of charisma, no small matter in modern American politics.
Combine these positives with a compelling life story and a genuinely liberal worldview (and brief voting record), and, well, you’ll have to forgive those crazy Democrats who want him to run for the White House in 2008. Given the recent litany of lackluster Dem. nominees (other than one William Jefferson Clinton), many in the party would like to nominate fresh blood that could, you know, actually win.
One supposes that compared to John Kerry and, going back a bit, Michael Dukakis, literally anyone with a pulse would make for a far better choice. Obama, on the other hand, might, right now, be the most popular Democrat in America (She may soon become Madame Speaker, but Rep. Nancy Pelosi will never be terribly popular.). For a party that has seen the White House for only 12 of the past 37 years, there is quite a temptation to nominate Sen. Obama now.
The realities of modern American politics, of course, have a way of destroying such fanciful notions. Let’s begin with the obvious problem: experience. By November 2008, he will have been in the U.S. Senate for a mere four years. Considering the fact that he was previously a state senator in Illinois, the electorate would wonder if he should be vaulted to the Presidency. After all, the war on terror will continue, there will likely be massive repercussions from whatever becomes of Iraq, and, oh yes, Iran and North Korea will have to be dealt with.
Do we really want to vault a first-term senator to such a perilous position?
Oh sure, you could, I suppose, correctly point out that the “experienced� men and women have done a spectacular job of screwing things up (esp. the last six yrs.). You could point out that too much time in Washington just ruins a person. All of this is true, but Karl Rove will likely inform us that if we elect Sen. Obama, the terrorists will win! Hmm, who to believe?
Then, there is the issue of accomplishments.
As prominent liberal blogger Ezra Klein wrote in an October 8 op-ed in The Los Angeles Times, Obama “has refused to expend his political or personal capital on a single controversial issue.� This is a good point, as is Klein’s correct assertion that Obama has not had a difficult race to deal with. Of course, had he taken Klein’s advice, he would have been painted as an arrogant, over-ambitious politician. Freshmen senators are not supposed to make waves. But hey, I’m sure Americans are just waiting to elect an arrogant, over-ambitious politician! I mean, just look at how enthusiastic we all were for Sen. Kerry! Oh, wait a minute…
In all seriousness, these issues are concerns. I’ll leave it up to readers to decide for themselves if these concerns are weighty enough to stop a presidential run, but these drawbacks just do not strike me as that dire. Of bigger concern might be his ideology. Obama is indeed a liberal. Yes, I said it. Liberal has become, unfortunately, something of a dirty word in this country, which could hurt Obama. Still, his appeal to non-partisanship, while angering some Democrats who want confrontation, resonates in a country seemingly run by childish leaders.
So, where does that leave us, other than about 15 months before the first primary? Well, yes, there are concerns. Recent precedent would suggest he may not be ready for this. Then there are still, sadly, some racial concerns. Is America truly ready for an African-American President? I think it is, but, either way, isn’t it time we found out? This country is at a crossroads. The partisan division helps no one and only serves to make us all more cynical.
No, Barack Obama will not magically solve everything. No politician can do that. But I’m tired of choosing between conventional candidates who offer very little. I’m ready to give Sen. Obama a shot. If that makes me a “crazy Democrat,� well that’s fine. It has to be better than being a diehard Republican right now anyway.
FOOTNOTE: Kevin Anderson’s Guest Voice post is VERY TIMELY.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.