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Obama Rising Above It All

Senator Barack Obama is proving a bit of a problem for the Clinton political machine. The woman (and heir apparent - or so some thought) that seemed so invincible just a few short months ago has been defeated in Iowa, barely won New Hampshire, comfortably won Michigan (no delegates) and Nevada, and was soundly thrashed in South Carolina. Is this to be an expected pattern throughout the course of the primaries? Can the Obama campaign carry on a series of worrisome wins to build enough momentum to stop Senator Hillary Clinton from becoming the Democrats next presidential nominee and instead replace her with the junior Senator from Illinois?

Perhaps.

Invoking the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama is calling for a change. Not just a change of allegiance and vote. But a change to help alter the course of the United States. In his speeches, he tells people that there is no room for divisions among Americans, that color is not an issue. He calls for solidarity, he calls for strength, he calls for hope, and he calls for your vote.

But is hope enough? Do the people of the United States have enough trust left within their hearts to follow a man they barely know? Can the cult of personality that has become part of the message of the Barack Obama campaign sway enough people to gain him enough delegates to see him nominated as the Democratic candidate for the presidency? Or are the people of the United States so hardened to political maneuverings over the past few decades, so jaded by the corruption and scandal of the past couple administrations, so dampened by the disappointment and frustration that they have become too cynical to let that flame of hope ignite?

Surprisingly, it is beginning to look as if hope just might be enough. The Obama campaign has taken on a life of its own. Led by a figure that doesn't seem to let the adverse deter him, he has risen above the pettiness of the racial questioning and the attempts to draw him into a mud-slinging competition, whether it be media driven or part of his opponents' strategy. He has managed to keep anything said about his fellow Democrats low-key, nothing to be considered disrespectful or overly contentious. He has defended himself with grace and even tones.

And he is winning over a vast majority of the undecided and the directionless.

Not since the Kennedys in the 1960s has the United States seen such enthusiastic support for a candidate, such a groundswell of popular movement. Not since Bobby Kennedy has there been a young candidate who has captured the imagination of the American people and kept it focused. Not since John and Bobby Kennedy have so many Americans actually believed the words of a candidate and been inspired enough to become politically active. Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy, wrote a glowing endorsement of the Senator from Illinois in the New York Times. "I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president - not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans."

Senator Barack Obama believes he can be that president as well. In a couple of days - after the dust of Super Tuesday has settled - we will know whether or not his message has gotten through...

Source:

Caroline Kennedy, "A President Like My Father," NYTimes.com

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