by Waldo News

Created on: January 18, 2007   Last Updated: April 19, 2007

Barack Obama has enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame unmatched since Howard Dean and John Edwards in 2004. His charisma and lack of crow's feet remind many of Bill Clinton and JFK during their first campaigns. His followers, the Obamafia, trumpet talking points and parroted facts with the ferocity of a Fox News pundit. One such point that comes up often in the debate over Obama's experience, is this:

"In a post-election poll, only 15% of Americans approved of government."

Ignoring, for a moment, that I've yet to hear the context of this statistic from one of his supporters, what exactly does that mean when used to support Barack Obama for President 2008? Since no context is provided, how then does this poll support the candidacy of Barack Obama?

If only 15% of Americans approve of government, then what do the other 85% support? What issue or intrinsic quality leads so many to support him, and how does this relate to the 85% of Americans who do not approve of government? The binary response to that would be, of course, that these 85% support non-government, but how does that relate to Obama?

There are various extremes to non-government, and Obama represents a large portion of the non-government spectrum. He is not viewed as a Beltway insider, and is determined to shake up the Boomer politics of the past decades. He transcends old ideological boundaries, and wins over even hardened neophobes with rhetoric and charisma. The question, however still remains, how does the lack of support for government translate into support for Obama. The answer can be found in an age-old cliche. In essence, the members of the Obamafia are trumpeting the cause of "that government which governs best, governs least". They are proposing that we vote for Obama because he will be the least "governing" President and head of government. If this strategy succeeds, then we will have witnessed a fundamental shift in the ideologies of the two major political parties in the United States.

For years, the Republican Party, and the Libertarian Party to the right of them, have been the parties of small government and personal freedom. However, with a shift to the Southern Strategy, the American right and neo-conservatives have become a big government party. The Republican party has embraced a neo-conservative agenda within the framework of which the government must grow to support national security, border security, and "moral law". This has led to a backlash against the right, and big government. Obama is in a unique position to exploit this, and swing the small government debate to the left.

This is certainly an issue which merits debate, and close examination as the campaign progresses.

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