Looking Past Primary Season, Obama Foreshadows National Campaign Themes

Lebanon, NH -- With recent polls showing him firmly ahead of his Democratic rivals, a confident Barack Obama seems to be looking past the primary season and previewing the themes of his national campaign.

Instead of addressing New Hampshire voters on local issues before Tuesday's primary, like many of the other presidential hopefuls, Obama is casting himself as part of a broad historical narrative emphasizing America's most significant progressive movements and achievements.

Speaking today at the historic Lebanon opera house, Obama made it clear that this is no longer a question of winning a majority in New Hampshire, but nationally. "We're on the cusp of creating a new majority that won't just win a nomination, a generation election, but that will allow us to govern."

At a campaign event here on Monday, it wasn't Obama who spoke to staple New Hampshire voting issues, but local restauranteur Nick Jager.

Obama instead spoke of his candidacy to the eight hundred attendees primarily as part of a long history of charismatic and transformational leaders, specifically John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. He related the significance of the upcoming election with the abolition of slavery, the emancipation of women, the defeat of fascism, and, critically, the civil rights movement.

Quoting Dr. King, Obama told the audience that we now face what King described as "the fierce urgency of now" and, just as then, "we can not wait." Responding to opponents' criticisms that he is instilling voters with "false hopes" for the future, Obama scoffed at the image of King telling people to "the dream will die" or JFK telling Americans "the moon is too far."

Monday's event in Lebanon followed a similar morning rally in Claremont, and preceded evening rallies in Rochester and Concord. The rallies offer little opportunity for the audience to engage Obama directly on New Hampshire issues. Unlike Hillary Rodham Clinton's closing events today, which featured extended question-and-answer periods designed to discuss local policy matters, Obama's rallies last only as long as his speeches.

Suggesting that he's now running against an era, not this cycle's presidential candidates, Obama pitched himself as the candidate who can fix "the problems that George W. Bush may have made far worse, but have been festering long before George Bush took office." He also referred to himself as "a president who will be straight with you and talk to you in clear terms -- and he (I) wasn't referring to pronouncing 'nuclear.'"

Obama's presentation stands in contrast to Hillary Clinton's recent stump speech. Clinton, who's fallen significantly in the polls in recent weeks, credited herself with insuring 7,000 of New Hampshire's children and providing 324,000 children access to vaccines against childhood illnesses. Specific New Hampshire facts and figures were noticeably absent from Obama's speech.

As much as Obama's rhetoric is indicative of his growing support nationwide, it also reveals how he has earned such widespread support. Obama's candidacy has always been grounded in his broad appeals to voters that they are electing "hope," and a grand move past partisanship and a corrupt Washington culture.

On the eve of the New Hampshire primary, however, there are few reminders that Obama is still campaigning in the Granite State.

Comments

[mick3]

Should there actually be another national election, and should Obama be elected, we are very likely to see JFK redux, but not as the People would want, but as the Right, with its deep connections to the anarchistic CIA would have it. That is, assassination. This time, it will be blamed on racists, as with MLK, but it will be the same creeps who took out all the important leaders representing the general population rather than the capitalist parasites the Bush calls his base, or as he smirkingly put in to them in person, all dolled up in his real clothes, a tuxedo, the "have-mores".

[ystasino]

Obama has been saying the same things since 2004 and writing about them for a decade now. If you take the time to look his message of hope has been with him since he started his campaign.

It's believable because it's genuine. When he says that all he had growing up was hope people relate to that.

When he says that partisanship kills progressive ideas because people get distracted in food fights that's what he believes. He understands that for any progress to come into effect we must exit this Nixonian division about god, guns, gays.

Join us

[katzenmom]

I've been living on HOPE since JFK was assassinated nearly 45 years ago. It's not nearly enough! What counts is a solid agenda, courage, and PREPARATION!

I don't buy hope. I buy IDEAS, GUTS, a KILLER INSTINCT (as kindly as possible), and CONVICTIONS (evidenced by the courage to be honest). Remember, JFK promoted a working-class agenda and followed up on Inauguration Day by saying: "Ask not what your country can do for you! Ask what YOU can do for your COUNTRY!" A lot of people thought they might have been hoodwinked. They hand't been. He was simply reminding them that there's no free ride and that the road to implementing that agenda would be long and, often, not pretty. It wasn't, but he achieved most of it before getting his thanks via a bullet in the head on a campaign trip in hopes of a re-election that was by no means guaranteed him.

If you want UTOPIA, vote for HOPE. If you want a shot at winning this election, vote for someone who can get the job done. We've already lost two who could have: Biden and Dodd. So, let's vote carefully, for EFFECTIVENESS, COURAGE, and HONESTY for a change, and see if we can GET THE JOB DONE!!

[Silknspark]

Obama, sweet boy that he is, has one fatal flaw: socialist programs.
When the kiddos whose parents mainlined them a diet of Sesame Street type 15 second entertainment sound bites get bored with Obama, as they do everything, they'll click him off with their remotes and move on to new entertainment.
Then Obama will be back at the mercy of us old slugs, who will like him, but not his policies.

[jb007]

Now that the talk has moved on to Obama eyeing general election, Democrats seem to be setting up themselves for a rout in the General election in November 2008, given the frontrunner is an extreme liberal. While I detest right-wingers, I would be hard pressed to vote for somebody like Obama whose views are way too simplistic to be taken seriously.

Competency and experience matters. The current occupant of the White House has proven that consistently with his failed policies for the past 7 years. Oh well.

[MichaelO]

It's amazing how many people believe in Obama and want a second JFK/MLK/Messiah out of him. I, personally, would like some more information about him before I give him my vote. What's he going to do about Africa? New Orleans? Gas prices? Energy prices? The housing market? Lead paint in toys? Upgrading our nation's infrastructure and at what expense? Iraq, if it turns into a true civil war once we drawdown? His reaction to a terrorist attack. He has said very little specifics about anything and he's already getting tagged as a far-left liberal in the conservative hate machine.

Bill, unfortunately, hit it on the head when he said the media is treating Obama like a 'Fairytale'. I guess most of the people here forgets the finer details of 2000 when Bush was the "Unifier" and the 'guy I want a beer with' and "the one who'll bring dignity back to the White House'. When, approached with the 11th-hour coke DUI, Bush claimed, " I don't play the Gotcha game." And the media then, like now, gave a free pass.

Bush/Clinton/Reagan etc.... all promise 'change'. After 4(8) years of whoever, I can understand why. But by God, if there was any other time when it was more important to find out what change means, and how it will be defined, it's this election

And should Hillary bow out, which I expect, then this nation's greatest villian will forever be destroyed; hopefully then, everyone who has hated her from Rush to Anne, Hannity to Drudge, and even bloggers on this and others forum can all be raptured, for there will be no reason for them to exist any longer. If this did happen, I would vote against Hillary, just to clear out the meaningless hate toward a woman because of her name that clutter these blogs and the airwaves.

Is Hillary an angel? Of course not. Will Obama change the world? Of course he could. Could he go power crazy, just like Hillary or Bush or McCain or, or, or etc...? Absolutely.

[ltfcrazy]

HOPE: you can't buy it, you can't sell it and you can't refute it. Obama gives us hope. Those of you who don't feel it yet were just more hopeless than those of us who do, but you're about to get injected with a massive dose. Are you gonna stay hopeless in the face of millions of smiling, productive, well adjusted young people? This isn't a black thing or a white thing. This isn't a young thing or an old thing. It's a state of mind. Once HOPE is implanted that things will get better, you cannot stop it!

[IraSkutch]

The basic problem we are facing is the corruption that has taken grip of our nation. It is exemplified in industry by the Enron experience, and in politics by the entire electoral system.

Public officials are routinely elected by expending huge sums of money raised primarily from corporations and PACS. Fund-raising is the major preoccupation from day one -- our government officials are bought and paid for.

Election reform is the number one priority for cleaning up public life.

John Edwards is the one candidate dedicated to this struggle.

[zstroud]

All I can say Obama lovers is be very carefule of what you "hope" for. What is hope anyway, don't you want to know his positions or do you not care? I f he was soooo againsnt the war why did he vote to fund it? Who is this guy and why do you people so passionately believe that he walks on water even though he has done nothing but duck since he's been in politics. This is really scary to me that the press, or you bloggers or anyone else will even ask this guy his positions on anything. I am a committed and dedicated military vertan, African American Democrat, but if you sheep make this guy the nominee, McCain will definitely have my vote.

[MisterSlippery]

So now that Obama is the "Presumptive Nominee" can you give us a date and time when you will start getting snarky with him about it?

We need a time frame when you will start calling him "uppity".

Or when you call him "Ghetto Rich" (fill in the OTHER Word!) because he's got bigger campaign coffers than the others!

Personally I Think Obama is a good choice, and I will support him whole heartedly. But I'm VERY disappointed in the way the MSM has managed to drag out every stereotype in the book to pillory Hillary. Might as well just photoshop the B word on her forehead when they print her picture.
May I remind you all that every one of us came into this world the same way and we should be collectively ashamed that we treat women the biased way we do in this society.

What does it say about our society that we look to be on the verge of moving past the color barrier and seeing the man without judging him for the color of his skin, but we still cannot abide a strong woman who dares to storm the halls of power.

I'm hoping that Barack will put us on a better path than we have been this last sixteen years (FWIW - I am NOT a friend of Bill, I thought he was disastrous to the cause of personal liberty in our Nation) but at 60 years old I no longer harbor any illusions that campaign promises of "Change" are anything but the glamour that politicians must weave in order to get elected.

[vbond]

"With recent polls showing him firmly ahead of his Democratic rivals, a confident Barack Obama seems to be looking past the primary season and previewing the themes of his national campaign.

"Instead of addressing New Hampshire voters on local issues before Tuesday's primary, like many of the other presidential hopefuls, Obama is casting himself as part of a broad historical narrative emphasizing America's most significant progressive movements and achievements."

I like this post, except that it misses a key point: this is generally the same message that he has delivered since his announcement.

He was not the "ethanol" candidate in Iowa and he is not the "local issues" candidate in New Hampshire, except - and this is the point - he has struck a chord because he has spoken to what are so many peoples' personal issues with our political system.

In fact, his presentation is both broader and more forward-looking AND narrower and more individually focused than what we usually characterize as "local issues."

This is all balanced by the fact that - contrary to some of the comments on this post and elsewhere - he has been fully as specific about all the major issues as any other candidate, including Senator Clinton. He just doesn't review it all every time he stands up. Have the people who wonder "Where's the beef?" been to his website?

Barackobama.com, for instance, has five pages of SUMMARY on his health care plan, which John Edwards himself has praised in debate. You may disagree about the question of mandates, but there it all is. What do you want, the actual BILL?

Someone here said: "I may be a cynic but I have every reason to be. Show me your program, don't give me generalizations.., empty words are a dime a dozen."

My advice is to go and read what he has proposed.

Have you?

Let's see then... overarching, relevant and resonating vision... detailed policy positions... passion and authenticity.

Why in the world would THAT combination be so attractive?

[go4thegold]

Hillary takes credit for everything... Hell, I think she even gave Edison the idea for the light bulb. The Clintons are so scared they've even resulted to name calling and mud slinging... Look at Bill now... He's on the stump, publically calling Obama a fraud... A fraud? Now there's the pot calling the kettle Black... D.

[kudabux]

News reports Obama was on the phone today with Condi, both calling Africa to try to quell the fights that are raging there. Helloooo!! America is in dire straights. Let's clean our own house first.
He is pandering to the black vote, some of whom are in the Hillary camp.
Please please see through this phoney!

[1dogs2]

This analysis is right on the money.

What has inspired the Obama boom is the growing hope that he can inspire a "new majority . . . that will allow us to GOVERN." The electorate does not want another administration that thinks the way to govern is to stuff its wrong-headed policies down everyone's throat (both at home and abroad). It does not want another administration that is weakened by the personal foibles (or inherited baggage) of the president. Apparently, it does not even want an extremely personable fighter for economic justice. It wants someone who is inspired by a vision of what the nation could and should be and who can communicate that vision effectively.

An important part of that ability to communicate and inspire is derived from an obvious comfort in his own skin (that his skin is not white is both an added advantage and a delicious irony, given our history) and the capacity to persuade by clear and logical analysis of problems and alternative solutions. Those politically aware and old enough to remember 1960 understand why and how the wind has shifted. That Obama has thus far succeeded in this age of vicious partisanship and an irresponsible MSM is an extraordinary triumph to be celebrated and enjoyed.

[moonglowsun]

OBama scares me. He seems to be charismatic and, like a cheer leader, he can get a crowd up and engaged, but what is he really proposing? I listen to the experts, not the media but the true professionals, when they parse the proposals of each candidate on the issues. For example, on health care, Edwards has the best most viable program of all the candidates Republican or Democrat.
Seems that once again Americans are beginning to rally behind someone who "feels good". Someone who says the words which inspire us, when inspiration should be relegated to within the walls of your favorite religious halls. Let's not forget the lessons of the past. Phrases that also inspired the masses, denouncing gays, disgruntled Nam vets, Valerie Plame and Joseph Wilson, UN inspectors and more. Phrases that led us to invade Iraq and ignore the real enemy Bin Laden. Phrases that offended our long time world allies and tainted America's image.
I may be a cynic but I have every reason to be. Show me your program, don't give me generalizations.., empty words are a dime a dozen. Let me and experts judge whether it's a workable plan. Reaching across the aisle is theoretically "nice", but is it realistic? Come on, does OBama believe he's going to do what constituents have been pleading for these past 7 years and longer? Or will he become a Lame Duck from day 1. Nice is sweet, I want someone who can fight for me. Not compromise. I want our troops out of Iraq now, not eventually. I want Social Security protected from further government pilfering. I want my rights protected from government invasion. I want transparency in government and I want those in this present administration to answer to any and all violations of law regardless of who they may be. OBama panders to the "feel good" state we all crave, but honestly will that fix our problems?