I chose Barak Obama as my candidate before he was even a candidate, so I am not totally objective on this subject. I do, however, still think he is very likely to win the candidacy for the Democratic Party, and win the general election. Here is why:

Leaving WHY he should win for later, I think that one of the worst things a candidate can do is peak too early. I think Hillary did that. She became the front-runner, who got all the scrutiny for months. No one, not even Hillary, can stand up to that much scrutiny for that long without faulting along the way. She will really be tortured by fire if she actually wins the nomination.

As Barak receives more attention, and the people hear what he says, and become more interested, he is gaining supporters, where Hillary is losing support. He delivers his message in such a positive way, with such sincerity, when compared to other candidates, he shines so much brighter, and no one dislikes him (well, other than a few bigots, maybe). You can't say that about Hillary. "Actually, I suppose there are some chauvinists that could be equal to Barak's bigots, but most of them will vote Republican)

Edwards, Richardson? Not Richardson, for sure; maybe for VP, but not for the top slot. Edwards is not doing well in the polling. Why? I'm not sure. I wrote last year that he is too pretty. I haven't come up with a better answer, now, a year later. He seems sincere, intelligent, positive, and says all the things that we want to hear, but we aren't buying him. It must be the "pretty" thing. I can't think of anything else that explains it.

Biden, etc.? I won't waste your time.

Now, to WHY Obama should be elected. The minute he wins, we reclaim our dignity in the world, and the entire world situation changes, the entire discussion of how to proceed forward gets thrown wide open, and we can move forward on trying to be good citizens, good neighbors, and a good country. Hillary is more of the same old rehash of two, three, maybe four or more decades.

"But he is too inexperienced," I hear. My experience is that more time in the Senate never made anyone smarter or better. I like that he isn't experienced in the ways of Washington politics. He has new ideas of how we can and should govern ourselves. That is bad? He actually has more experience in goverment than Hillary. I don't think my wife's experience makes me experienced enough to put it on my resume, so why hers?

"America isn't ready for a black president, and he has an Arab name." I hate this one. If we aren't ready for a black president, it's a shame. We almost all have foreign names. Washington was a foreign name. The names, John, Paul, Michael; all came from the Middle East...the Bible.

"He was born a Muslim." I really hate this one. I was born Baptist and I refuse to apologize for it. What I became is what matters. Barak made himself something, to be where he can lead us to a nobler, more compassionate, and more respected nation. That's what is important.

Learn more about this author, Will Kester.
Click here to send author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Assessing Barack Obama's chances for the 2008 Democratic primaries?
We want to hear your view. Write now!