Now that Barack Obama has won the Iowa Democratic caucuses handily and appears poised to do very well in the New Hampshire Primary, I thought I would share a few of my observations about this erstwhile upstart.
To do so, we must travel back in time four months when warmer weather prevailed even in New England. On the morning of September 3, 2007, I rode a bus from Boston to Manchester, New Hampshire. During this hour long ride, politics was the furthest thing from my mind. After all, I was going to see a minor league baseball game between the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays) and the Trenton Thunder (the AA affiliate of the New York Yankees). However, I had arrived in Manchester two hours early and had some time to spare. Although I had been to Manchester to see ballgames on at least three other occasions, the opportunity to explore the city had not really presented itself until that day.
No sooner than I had taken a left onto Elm Street from Granite Street, I heard a sonorous voice wishing all a Happy Labor Day. I went across the street into a nearby park and stumbled onto a Barack Obama rally. In retrospect, I suppose I should have realized that when in New Hampshire the chances of running into a Presidential candidate from either party go up exponentially. With nothing better to do at that moment I saw no harm in sticking around to listen to his case.
Barack Obama is a handsome, well spoken young man with very little to say. It was not merely a triumph of style over substance; it was a conquest. This isn’t to say that Obama was lacking a message. He was selling hope and those assembled were more to ready to drink it straight out of the bottle or put it on their skin to protect themselves from the sun. Those people include more than a few Republicans.
“We’re not here to win an election,” Obama said, “We’re here to transform a nation.” At the time, I thought he would not do either. However, in the intervening months, it is not out of the question that Obama could win this November. Assuming he is successful, how exactly does he transform this nation? Will stop signs be changed from red to blue? Will human beings no longer commit theft or assault on American soil? Would I, with only the force of my intellect and smile, be welcome into the White House to persuade Obama to implement public policy? Or is transformation merely a buzz word?
Presentation aside, there is really little to distinguish Obama from the rest of the Democratic field. Despite the progress from the surge, Obama wants to end the War in Iraq. How exactly does this set him apart from Dennis Kucinich? Obama wants universal health care for every American by the end of his first term. So does John Edwards. Obama has vowed to end tax breaks for corporations that send jobs overseas. My that sounds like a page from John Kerry’s book four years ago.
So what does make Obama different? He certainly exudes a youthful, charismatic, hipster cool that none of his rivals from either party have. If you close your eyes, Obama sounds an awful lot like actor and former professional wrestler, DeWayne “The Rock” Johnson. We know that he can dance with Ellen DeGeneres. No doubt he can dance with other stars as well. We know that he listens to Jay-Z on his i-Pod. And Oprah swears by him. OK, so he would be a great guy to invite to a party but does that mean he can lead a party, much less the country?
Though few would admit it there is certainly a desire in this country to elect an African American to the White House. While Obama does not put his race front and center in the way Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have nonetheless Obama often evokes images from the civil rights movement in his speeches, particularly the marches from Selma. I am sure that many who were alive when Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated that few among them would have thought the country would forty years later be very well prepared to elect an African American as leader of the free world. Yet I am also sure that King would want Obama to be elected President because of the content of his character not because of the color of his skin.
Barack Obama might very well be a good man and might prove to be able to back up his talk. However, I am not sold on his brand of hope. I am not sure he can tell the difference between hope and wishful thinking. He needs to do more than just dance with Ellen, listen to Miles Davis’ The Birth of the Cool and talk with Tyra Banks. He needs to debate ideas with those who might be skeptical of him. Simply put, Obama must agree to a sit down interview with Bill O’Reilly. Yes, O’Reilly can be a pain in the behind sometimes. But from time to time one must defend one’s ideas instead of merely preaching to the converted. Obama must face O’Reilly in the same way Muhammad Ali faced Joe Frazier. Obama must prove he can still float like a butterfly and sting like a bee after he’s taken a few dozen punches. If Obama can’t step into the ring with O’Reilly how can we expect him to stare down the Ahmadinejads of the world?
Towards the end of his talk late on that Labor Day morning, Obama told us to trust our own instincts. Not that I need be told to look out for my own interests. But since he was so kind to invite us to do so let me state what my instincts tell me about him. My instincts tell me that Barack Obama can talk for an hour and say absolutely nothing. My instincts tell me that Barack Obama is getting by on his looks and charm and has little concept of the awesome responsibility that might come his way. My instincts tell me that he would be ill-prepared to respond to a September 11th like catastrophe or something even worse. My instincts tell me that he would turn his back on our soldiers and pull the plug out from under them in Iraq. Barack Obama might fool some people this November, perhaps even enough people to get into the White House. But he doesn’t fool me.
Aaron Goldstein was a card carrying member of the socialist New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP). Since 09/11, Aaron has reconsidered his ideological inclinations and has become a Republican. Aaron lives and works in Boston.
