The (Early) Case for Obama

“I am a slow walker, but I never walk back.”

– Abraham Lincoln–

Dear Folks:

It’s been interesting to see your comments concerning your early picks for the 2008 Presidential race. And, lest I remain relegated to the ranks of those who solely read your eloquent posts yet fail to exercise their freedom speech–that most patriotic of duties–I respectfully request that–in celebration of Honest Abe’s 198th birthday–you open your minds to what I have to say.

With the outstanding exception of Mr. Jim Walton, who introduced candidate Obama as an exciting alternative–yet immediately questioned not only the candidate’s commitment to opposing the war, but the possibility that either an African-American or a woman can be a viable candidate for the Democratic ticket–you have so far issued comments which have not sought to go beyond your comfort zone.

Obama is “a fad.”

Obama “does not have enough experience.”

Obama is the “white Bill Clinton.”

Tsk, tsk, y’all. Let’s go past the soundbites of your preferred candidates and analyze why these three charges are not only unfair, but unfounded criticisms about the man from Illinois…

Obama is “a fad”: Bill Clinton earned the vote of America’s youth by showing up on Arsenio and playing “Heartbreak Hotel” on sax, while wearing a pair of Raybands. I saw Obama on 60 Minutes last night, and he’s turning the heads of America’s youth, not with slick instrument soloing on a popular show, but with the power of words and vision. Just in case you weren’t keeping track, America’s youth stayed in line–on the average–anywhere from 3-4 hours past the official closing of polls during the 2004 election in districts where there were “system irregularities.”

Ignore the young vote at your own risk, folks. They call its impetus “Rock The Vote!” for a reason…

Obama “does not have enough experience”: This criticism can only be credibly uttered by someone who’s already been “there.” Out of all the candidates, the only one who has been anywhere close to a President–let alone the Presidency–is one Senator Hillary Clinton. Even then, hers was a physical closeness and–on occasion–a strategic closeness. Unless Al Gore joins the fray, every candidate’s dossier is–wait for it–inferior to Obama’s.

Be still your beating hearts, sportsfans. There are only two men in the race who have experience as governors: Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee (that’s because we’re waiting on New York’s former governor, George Pataki, to form an exploratory committee to explore whether or not he should form an exploratory committee to explore whether or not he should explore the possibility of running for the President…)

Populous as Massachussets might be, Romney is quickly getting a rap for letting others do the heavy lifting, only to show up at the last minute and taking credit if things work. Even worse, he’s a Mormon, which–at a time when 1 in 3 Americans considers him/herself to be an Evangelical Christian–cannot be the greatest of assets.

Next, I’ll be the first to confess I loved Mike Huckabee until I saw him this Sunday on This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Despite the fact that the only Republican I’ve ever voted for is The Governator (I live in California), the bass-playing, not-toeing-the-Republican line, 100-plus-pound-losing, second-term-governing, former Southern Baptist preacher had me at “Hello” for a second or two. He literally had me believing that–despite being on the other side–lightning can strike twice in Hope, Arkansas. Then he took Stephanopoulos’ bait, and–clearly supported by the YouTube-less wonder of mundane videotape–said, without a shadow of a doubt, that we are already in the midst of World War Three. Maybe I’m overreacting, but I think that those 2 in 3 Americans who are not Evangelical Christians might just think that the Honorable Governor of the Great State of Arkansas read just one too many Left Behind books.

With Pataki still deciding whether or not he should decide whether of not he should decide whether or not he should run, only three heavily populated states are left. California’s governor is ever so slightly too Austrian for the taste of the U.S. Constitution, Texas’ governor was not only installed by Karl Rove, but left with a $12 billion deficit to keep himself busy with for a few years, and if Florida’s governor were to run, another Bush would be in the White House.

With the exception of Rudolph Giuliani–The Mayor, who happens to believe that abortion and gay marriage are A-OK, but thinks that George Bush did the right thing in Iraq–no one else in the field has any governing experience. Left behind are folks who–for the most part–legislate.

Except one, of course. Obama has more than seven years in the Illinois Legislature and his stint as U.S. Senator going for him. He was a community activist, a civil rights attorney and a professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago. After six years of an administration that has driven a wedge through the heart of our country, has sent the sons and daughters of America to die for a lie, and has raped the Constitution, don’t you think that Obama’s experience suddenly looks more appropriate for the job that that of the rest of the field?

Obama is the “white Bill Clinton”: This one burns my full point of contact like a three-foot flame.

As I write these lines, I’m listening to Ball of Confusion by The Temptations. I grew up on Motown and Tamla. When I get ticked off at politicians, the only things that calm me down are listening to Stevie Wonder’s You Haven’t Done Nothin’ or the O’Jays’ For The Love of Money. Today’s post in my second blog was not about Abraham Lincoln, but about Bill Russell, who shares the same birthday as America’s 16th President. Furthermore, I have also blogged about Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackie Robinson, Hines Ward, Stephen Biko, Joseph Addai, Wesley Autrey, Muhammad Ali, Majora Carter, Ed Bradley and–oh, I almost forgot–Barack Obama. Does that make me black?

Sorry to disappoint you, folks. I’m Latino, and if you saw me on the street, you’d think I’m the whitest dude to ever walk the Earth. Last I checked, Americans should vote for the person most qualified for the job, regardless of the color of their skin, or the nature of their physiological plumbing. Last election most of the electorate voted for the person most personable to them, and look where it’s landed us. To add insult to injury, that very same person was granted the Presidency by the U.S. Supreme Court’s per curiam decision of December 12, 2000. Last I checked, the Electoral College has superseded the will of the People in only three other occasions: 1824, 1876 and 1888. Each time it has happened, there’s been hell to pay…

In closing, please don’t consider the aforementioned arguments an attempt to browbeat you out of your present electoral provinces, but an earnest attempt to persuade you to open your minds to the most grossly underestimated candidate in the field. If on the road to the primaries this candidate falls apart, I will admit my folly and lick my wounds like the man I am.

But, until that happens, Barack Obama remains The Man.

At this point in the time-space continuum–contrary to what you might presently believe–it is his election to lose…

Rod Peña is the author of Inside Rod’s Head

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