"A Clean Slate..."

Barack Obama. Catalyst for progress and revival, or an empty vessel in which we place our false hopes? Perhaps the most discussed topic in American politics today. Ten months out from the most important election since World War 2, voters in early primary states have begun to set the course for the world's greatest nation. As study the ballot on primary day, they ponder the world around them, the dangers and the opportunities, and how they can exercise a civic duty to create a better world for their families. Independent of the political punditry, the question must become, who can best solve these problems? And then they must ask themselves, is Senator Obama the answer, or a towering media creation? Or, more simply, can America rely on hope?

Democrats have controlled the presidency for all of 12 years since Lyndon Baines Johnson rode off into the tumbleweeds of Central Texas in January of 1969. Johnson's Shermanesque statement not to run if nominated, not to serve if elected, cleared the fields on both sides of the isle. To the right, the elements of the nascent Goldwater revolution amalgamated behind a paunchy, beedy-eyed tactician from California, a man whom, only 8 years earlier in 1960, bid a bitter farewell to American politics after a humiliating loss to the young, courageous and telegenic scion of political royalty. To the left, anti-war activism boiled among the radicals, while the democratic establishment and labor nervously watched FDR's leftist coalition tear itself apart. Senator Eugene McCarthy, hesitant anti-war hero, was thrust to the head of the field. To his right stood Hubert Humphrey, the "safe" choice for the Washington establishment who hoped that the young radicals wouldn't spook the blue-collar beer-drinkers that formed the corps of the democratic vote. Most important, however, was the emergence of what could be called "another" prodigal from that political factory headquartered in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The former Attorney General of the United States, Senator Robert Francis Kennedy, sailed into the Democratic race with clear and tangible advantages. His mercurial presidential campaign was viewed as the obvious coda to his brother's unfinished symphony. With his gold-plated name and spotless pedigree, he would have had no trouble riding the democratic establishment to an easy nomination, and, perhaps, an even easier rematch with that old Kennedy punching-bag, Mr. Nixon. But Bobby didn't rely upon his obvious strengths. Instead, at great political risk, he ran an insurgent, populist campaign as an outsider to a system spiraling out of control. This great risk was instructive. Bobby riveted a divided nation with soaring rhetoric and otherworldly charisma. He represented a chance reconnecting the severed link between the American people and their government, a chance to take the reigns from spiraling domestic and foreign quagmires.

America began to notice something else about John's younger brother. When Bobby talked, people listened. When a gunman killed Dr. King, and the inner-cities burned with rage, Kennedy revealed the news to a shocked and saddened crowd in Indianapolis. After his earnest call for peace, calm reigned and Indianapolis slept soundly. Kennedy continued to connect with the poor, the middle class, the working people and showed genuine strength, not political expediency, platitudes or pandering, but righteous, honest-to-god courage and selfless devotion to the betterment of the ordinary American. He lead an honest dialog with Americans everywhere he went, inspiring political activism among newcomers to politics, young and old alike. His campaign also suffered the endless criticism of elders; that it lacked gravitas and overflowed with naivete. After winning the pivotal California primary, Bobby gave a stirring victory speech, walked off the stage, and was shot in the head. Like that, in terrified awe, people watched a real chance to change America come to an abrupt halt.

If not for Sirhan Sirhan, who knows what would have happened. We do know that Richard Nixon took office in 1969, and that Humbert Humphrey slipped away to run another day, only to be upended in the Democratic primary in 1972. Nixon promised to end the war, at home and abroad, but hardly accomplished either. The record didn't skip a beat, and the the vindictive Nixon White House began a counterattack on civil rights and the advances in social justice made during the last 30 years. The roll-back only ended when Nixon's paranoia got the best of him, sending his entire administration down in flames.

Like Bobby Kennedy, Senator Obama has a habit of telling people things they may not like to hear. When he addressed the powerful teacher's union (whose endorsement he did not receive), he explained his support for the their biggest pet peeve, merit pay. He made a similarly politically incorrect choice when he addressed Detroit's business and political leaders, telling them that fuel economy standards must be raised. Time and again, his frank discussions of the nation's problems highlight a powerful link with the Kennedy scion. Obama also shadows Kennedy's battle with entrenched barriers and a slow-moving political establishment. Both seek to unify the electorate over hard-truths told with eloquent rhetoric. And where orations fall short, another great quality emerges from both men. They are men of genuine character, convictions and ideals, of strength and honor. Both men are leaders. Presidents are not oracles, they are (to paraphrase Mr. Bush) deciders and delegators of the nation's will. Barack Obama is a principled man, yes, but also a man of impeccable judgment. Like Kennedy, Obama appears on stage at a critical juncture. And like Kennedy, he is, uniquely, a man for his time.

It seems as if we Americans sometimes act surprised when democracy works. When a political movement begins, others question the legitimacy of the majority. Some shudder to stomach any threats to their own cynical belief that each election flips a different side of the same coin. The political-handicappers tell us that fresh faces don't get to play the game; That leadership isn't born, it's bred by a ceaseless gauntlet of incestuous power-brokers anointing our next leader; That our system can't stand the change we seek. Voices intone that "they", know better than we do. But history teaches us differently. Some have said that our system has become ill suited for the nature of transformative politics. However, our nation was founded on and designed for precisely that idea; The notion that the process of creative destruction yields a bounty of robust progress and opportunity. America has always been capable of rising to tremendous tasks. We, as a nation, have traveled arduous roads for the sake of the preservation of our exceptional system of government and for the prospect of liberty, forever, for our people and free people all over the world. So, never let cynics tell you that we cannot change here at home, against the favor of entrenched and self-interested parties.

To move forward, we must embrace that elusive "third" way. We cannot afford to retrench into agglutinative beltway gridlock. We've so obfuscated government with political debris and allowed our expectations to ebb, that America is beginning to forget what it felt like to be the great shining light of the world. A land of that ageless American dream, of prosperity and of equality, of opportunity and freedom. So, the question is, not whether a president has a Cajun's knowledge of the acrid swamp, but whether he can drain the dark water so that we may again farm the rich land beneath. The only leader with this ability is Senator Barack Obama. Like Bobby Kennedy, a generation ago, he stands alone as a dynamic coalition builder and a powerful intellect, with keen instincts and a unique ability to inspire progress. Others harp that this choice is a roll of the dice (suspending for a moment the notion that any new executive carries a certain risk for failure) and that only old weathered hands should be handed the keys. However, I suggest that, in a past time of uncertainty, the American people are willing to bestow such hope and trust upon bright young leader. They are ready to do so for the future, because they know the stakes. They are ready to do so because they understand the power of possibility, but also because they're tired of the ceaseless bickering, the endless gridlock, the fear, and the incompetence. They are ready to put that in the past. They were ready to do so because they are a faithful and positive people. And this they remain.

"Men without hope, resigned to despair and oppression, do not make revolutions. It is when expectation replaces submission, when despair is touched with the awareness of possibility, that the forces of human desire and the passion for justice are unloosed."

---Robert F. Kennedy, Berkeley, 10-22-1966