"The Obama Zeitgeist": It's real and it's something to be reckoned with

Here is a terrific article suggesting how the 2008 Presidential nomination could play out for Democrats (Paul Waldman, The Obama Zeitgeist, October 18, 2006, TomPaine.com). Obama may not be taking the road of vocal opposition that most of us would prefer to see – I believe his actual voting is pretty unassailable as a liberal Democrat -- but this is one brilliant politician who will be a formidable candidate whenever he decides to really go for it, because he also carries the promise of being a brilliant statesman as well. The article links to his two speeches, the one you surely remember at the Democratic Convention, and his “Pre-Inaugural Address” at the Knox College graduation in Galesburg, Illinois following election to the Senate. After you have read Waldman’s article, read either of those speeches. If you ever lose it at a sappy moment in a movie and have a sliver of idealism left in that soul that has been so hardened over the last six years, see if you can keep a dry eye all the way through.

When was the last time anyone in public office could communicate this well symbolically? Bill was very good, but Obama is better. First, with an emotional speech at the Convention, he establishes himself as a fighter, but a fighter for healing that will work for everyone. The choice of Knox College and Galesburg was brilliant, too. With Knox as the location of the most famous of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Galesburg is a small prairie and railroad town close to the geographic center of the Continental U.S. A destination for culturally conservative but economically progressive Swedish immigrants, it was the location of an 1890’s convention attempting to marry the Populist movement with Labor, is historically associated with the anti-slavery movement and the Underground Railroad, and, through native son Carl Sandburg and its function as a hub for both the Atcheson, Topeka & Santa Fe and the Burlington Northern railroads, openness to big city sophistication in the City of Big Shoulders. It is hard to imagine a better place for connecting with both Red and Blue regions between and (we too often forget) within states.

With his constant reminders of his political greenness as making talk of Presidential aspirations premature, Obama shows skills at the humility game worthy of a seasoned NFL quarterback (“our line was fantastic, so they deserve the credit for my 24 out of 25 completions for 540 yards and 7 touchdowns, and we have to take them one game at a time, and the Beefeaters are one tough team despite their misleading 1-14 record”), while at the same time providing an excuse for his failure to throw his progressive weight around and maintaining some outside-the-Beltway, Mr. Smith-Goes-to-Washington credentials. Then comes his trip to Africa, prompting powerful nostalgia for a time not so long ago of global reverence for the American President -- of children jumping, women swooning, portraits hanging -- instead of hatred and disgust.

Could Hillary successfully take on John McCain? I think so, but it would take some special efforts to get people on the right thinking track. I haven't even seen the Oprah appearance yet, but I think Obama's already pretty much neck-and-neck with McCain, greenness and all.