Seven Things Barack Obama Should Do to Keep from Blowing It

ASPEN - I took part in an interesting panel last night at the Aspen Ideas Festival, discussing the ins and outs of Barack Obama and John McCain with David Brooks, Stuart Rothenberg, Jim Wallis, Jonathan Capehart, Amy Goodman, and Jonathan Alter moderating.

I was particularly interested in the takes of Brooks and Rothenberg. They were smart, knowledgeable, eloquent... and utterly wrong.

Brooks was even-handed with both candidates. He suggested that McCain's biggest failing was his weakness as a manager (I said I was far more concerned with the disastrous direction in which he wants to lead the country). And he criticized Obama for lacking the "Senatorial skills" of either McCain or Hillary Clinton. (In an unrelated riff, Brooks let the audience know that, based on an off-the-record conversation with President Bush, he could categorically assure us that we would not be bombing Iran.)

Towards the end of the panel we were all asked whom the nominees should pick as their VP. One of Brooks' recommendations for Obama was Tom Daschle because the former-Senator understands how to get things done. In Brooks World, the presidency is all about keeping the machinery greased and the cogs of government running smoothly. It's leadership as McDonald's management: keep serving up the tried and true, with maximum efficiency.

Rothenberg -- astute, detailed, and supremely confident -- dipped into his political analyst's bag and pulled out a steaming chunk of conventional wisdom, echoing his recent declaration that "This whole election is about swing voters. Whoever wins them, will win the election." Where have we heard that before? Oh, yeah, that's right -- from countless inside-the-Beltway pundits and Democratic strategists in every election the Democrats have lost, going back a generation.

But, as we've seen, Barack Obama is not immune to the seductive call of the Conventional Wisdom sirens. And it's a call that's only going to get louder. He'll hear it from the chorus of pundits standing outside his window -- folks like The New Republic's Noam Scheiber, who today counseled Obama that being labeled a "typical politician" is a very good thing for him because it will assure wary voters that he won't do anything rash.

He'll hear it from some of the advisors inside his campaign. Folks like the aforementioned Daschle, for whom caution is part of his political DNA. Don't forget, as Senate Majority Leader, Daschle had gone along with the president's desire to hold the vote authorizing war with Iraq before the 2002 elections because he and many other Democrats believed an early vote could help shift the focus off the war and onto the economy, which they felt was their strong suit. And we saw how well that strategy turned out. Daschle was also the poster child for Democratic spinelessness on the war, going from supporting the use of force to questioning it to ultimately supporting it with his vote because he felt it was crucial for America "to speak with one voice at this critical time." And we know how well that turned out, too.

Obama will also hear the siren call from inside his own head. According to Brooks, Obama's overriding personal characteristic is caution.

So, to counter the conventional wisdom pundits, the cautious campaign advisers, and his own inner cautiousness, I'm offering Obama the following suggestions for staying true to the vision and message that took him from longshot "unlikely candidate" to presidential frontrunner -- and for avoiding the fate of the many before him who fell prey to the misguided belief that the path to the White House runs down the middle of the road.

1) Load up your Kindle with passages from leaders who were looking to fundamentally change the country and following an inner compass, not the latest focus-group results. Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King would be a good place to start.

"Some men see things as they are and ask, 'Why?' I dream of things that never were and ask, 'Why not?'" (RFK)

"There comes a time when one must take the position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must do it because conscience tells him it is right." (King)

2) Load up your iPod with passages from your own speeches. They've inspired others; now let them re-ignite the inspirational leader in you.

"This campaign can't only be about me. It must be about us - it must be about what we can do together. This campaign must be the occasion, the vehicle, of your hopes, and your dreams. It will take your time, your energy, and your advice - to push us forward when we're doing right, and to let us know when we're not. This campaign has to be about reclaiming the meaning of citizenship, restoring our sense of common purpose, and realizing that few obstacles can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.... That's why I'm in this race. Not just to hold an office, but to gather with you to transform a nation."

3) Get your campaign to give you a printout of the names of the over 1.5 million people who have donated to your campaign (at an average of $197 each). Give that list a read every day; feel the heft. And remember -- sorry, Stu Rothenberg -- that the tried-and-untrue swing voter strategy is what has led to the Democratic Party's prolonged identity crisis. Forget the fence sitters. Instead, continue to speak to those who have turned their backs on the electoral process -- those who are struggling without health care, without decent schools, without jobs, without hope.

4) Tape to your mirror the poll results from July 2004, where Kerry was up by six, and June of 1988, where Dukakis was up by 15... and don't get complacent.

5) Go to YouTube and watch the concession speeches of Kerry, Gore, and Hillary Clinton, each of whom decided to run to the middle in an attempt to attract undecided swing voters.

6) Don't let the daily petty squabbles of the campaign distract you from the core message that this campaign is not a referendum on John McCain's war record or the level of your patriotism -- but rather on the future of America. Are we a nation driven by hope and promise or a nation driven by fear?

When Bobby Kennedy was agonizing over whether or not to run in 1968, he told one of his advisors: "People are selfish. But they can also be compassionate and generous, and they care about the country. But not when they feel threatened. That's why this is such a crucial time. We can go in either direction. But if we don't make a choice soon, it will be too late to turn things around. I think people are willing to make the right choice. But they need leadership. They're hungry for leadership." Forty years later, we are starving for it. Real leadership, not a poll-driven facsimile. Not swing-state, swing-voter leadership. Leadership defined by an ability to capture our imagination and a willingness to challenge us. Leadership geared to transforming the country through the audacity of hope instead of keeping it mired in the politics of fear and division.

7) Heed the old Texas advice of Dandy Don Meredith and Molly Ivins: "You got to dance with them what brung you."

Voters longing for hope, inspiration, a new kind of politics, and fundamental change are "them that brung you" to the big dance. Don't let the pundits, the advisors, and the cowards convince you to let someone else cut in.

Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff

Comments

[isisdawnra]

Ariana ..

Your Amazing! Always so very clear headed and on target

Obama....LISTEN to Ariana

You are amazing.too

but your need to listen to her

[onetiredcowboy]

As usual, Arianna nails it with her very sound advice to Senator Obama. Moving to the center is a formula for disaster. As Jim Hightower says, "There's nothing in the middle of the road but dead skunks and armadillos."

I called Obama HQ today to register my unhappiness with Obama's backtrack on FISA, and asked if he had at least committed to prosecution of the telecoms if he wins in November. As expected, he's made no such commitment.

Will I vote for Obama in November? Of course. Am I weary of the spineless, middle of the road, try to make everyone happy crap I've witnessed a la Nancy Pelosi and many other Democrats who lack the courage to stand up to the Bush-Cheney-Republican crime family? Damned straight!

Up until last summer, I had fairly positive feelings about my own congressman, Rush Holt. Then I attended one of his constituency meetings and felt like throwing up after witnessing how utterly tone deaf he was in failing to hear and appreciate the level of anger many of us feel because our votes are taken for granted. If we wanted lapdogs for Bush, we would vote for Republicans. All too often, we vote for Democrats, and we get lapdogs for Bush anyway.

What a joy it would be to have a real Democratic Party with backbone. Is that really too much to ask for, and to expect?

[RRonin]

Put yourself in Obama's place. He is the FIRST African-American to have a REAL chance at getting elected President. So he has to boldly go where no candidate has gone before. He has to weigh more carefully his every decision and action, much more carefully than a white candidate. In past elections, all the white candidates had to do was say "Here I am, you lucky people", and wait for the votes to roll in. A black candidate can't take ANYTHING for granted. And he must particularly keep in mind that his candidacy (and future presidency, if he wins) will pretty much determine how African American candidates in the future will fare! And you think Jackie Robinson had it tough!

[Ilike2think]

I hope Obama hears your message Arianna and heeds the warning. If he votes for the FISA bill on Monday I fear he has lost this election.

He got where he is now with the message that he will change the way Washington is run. His core is angry and disappointed and I would wager his donations are down by quite a lot. He needs to be the statesman the Democrats expect him to be. We have way too many Republicans already.

[AMonkey]

So folks, what's the answer - promote infighting and guarantee a McCain presidency? Why are we so ready to rip Senator Obama to shreds? This country is in trouble. Senator Obama may not be your idea of perfection, but consider the alternative. The blood from our Corporate-born wars will be on the hands of those who allow Senator McCain to move into the White House.

I'll be honest, I have faith in Senator Obama, and will continue supporting his candidacy with time and money. And I do respect Arriana. I've had the pleasure of meeting her, and I admire her opinions. Now please - let's work together to reclaim this country.

[AMonkey]

1. Step one for me - use spellcheck (I do respect Arianna)

[racetoinfinity]

Thank you, "AMonkey" for a thoughtful and CARING reply. Good advice, I say, too.

[booksnmore4you]

Relax, things are not what they seem.

The right-wingers from places like The Free Republic are out in full force all over the Internet, including here at HuffPo and at my.barackobama.com. They're posing as disgruntled Obama supporters to plant a whole variety of weed seeds among Obama's actual supporters. The goal is to slow down the movement, demotivate Obama supporters, strike at Obama's fund raising advantage, promote infighting in general, and plant lots of seeds of doubt.

[dsforeman]

Arianna is dead on right. Obama is about 70% of the way to blowing this election with his watered down version of the real Obama. I love the quote by Bobby Kennedy. Leadership is what this is all about, its what this country needs, its what Arianna and the rest of us long for. Obama needs to lead, follow or get out of the way. Problem is he thinks he can lead by following and this is a huge mistake. Obama what Arianna is saying is that you are a liberal, leading liberal causes. Be what you are, lead with passion and the country will follow you. If instead you choose to follow the whims of the polls then you are done. You cannot win, because republicans are leaders even though they lead us headlong into disaster. People follow leaders, people do what they are told by strong leaders. So be a strong leader and tell us what to do!

[Geral]

What a confused state of affairs.
It seems to me that the very premise of Arianna's article here gives us all reason to worry. She has taken it upon herself to advise the man we are running for President of the United States. And, sadly, I agree he needs this advice... which leads me to the greater question-

Would anyone ever feel the need to tell Martin Luther King or Bobby Kennedy how to "ACT"?
Absolutely Not!

Who are we running? Did we invent this candidate? Did we reflect onto him all we wanted in a leader, because reflection is easier on a blank slate?

I took this opportunity to look very deeply into Mr. Obama's life. Should have done it long ago, but so should have Huffington Post! Community Organizer- 21 years ago, and largely unsuccessful, he did it for only 2 and a half years. No even interesting court cases fought or won by Obama, largely a deposition writer. Absolutely no banner or cause to call his own. No Great or even marginal Civil Rights legislation or court cases. Very little to speak of in Senate, actually referred to himself as a used to be senator in TODAYS opening article on Comcast.net. ..."when I was a Senator..." The world knew who King and Kennedy were by the time they were 35 yrs old!

I believe he is not only a politician at this point... But JUST a politician. Where to from here?

[zann]

I wonder what you mean by "deeply"? And why we should trust your 5 sentence purely negative summary of his life. He wrote 2 books. Did you read them? Do you count them as an achievements? Have you read his speeches? Do you count toppling the Clinton machine as an acheivement? Being the first African American editor of the Harvard law reivew? Graduating from Harvard with no money in his background? Turning down lucrative jobs for community organizing, which, by the way, continued during and after Harvard? Getting elected to the senate? Becoming the first African-American presidential nominee? How about having a detailed understanding of all the major issues, and an ability to communicate? How about his unparalleled ability to listen and negotiate?

Please, please, please, all you disappointed lefties, suck it up and put Obama in office. Hide your doubts, its Obama or McCain. If McCain gets in, America is finsihed. Look very deeply into McCain's life and be afraid.

[Deaninphilly]

Your first few sentences of his "achievements" are really grasping at straws. Sounds more like you're trying to convince yourself more so than anyone else.

Your last statement speaks volumes. So has been repeated it has come down to the lesser of two evils once again. Oh, joy! Do help me contain my excitement!

[Geral]

Its short because our words are limited.

I wasn't talking about SELF achievement. there are tons of assy republicans who have written books, won elections, and have law degrees. These are not the accomplishments that qualify one to be President of the United States.

Martin Luther King was indeed a great speech writer, but his actions spoke louder than even his great words. He was world renown by the age of 35. He taught an entire generation the power of peaceful protest, and accomplished much of his goals. Obama is a reflection of King's accomplishments. He sat in jail, he was dedicated.

Bobby Kennedy fought the mob, fought J. Edgar Hoover, opened the countries eyes to the horrors of poverty in Appalachia. Bobby sent the National Guard into Alabama to assure Civil Rights in Education. He was atty. General at the age of 36. Senator at the age of 39. Bobby Kennedy stood along side King and Chaves when many thought it to be political suicide. He too, never wavered for political expediency.

Speeches are only as good as what they realize. Kennedy was not even a good public speaker... his ACHIEVEMENTS FOR THE PEOPLE were his words. Actions! Martin's life was dedicated to the betterment of others, through action.

That's achievement... not degrees, books, offices, or for gods sake, winning primaries. If winning a primary to be president is a qualification to be president, Bush won the primary and the general... was he better qualified than Gore or Kerry?

[Raster]

Yes, exactly Arianna! Obama is moving to realstupidpolitik, not realpolitik. I am beginning to think of him as "Backtracking Barack", a phrase that the McCain campaign and the GOP may very well seize upon and pump up to put Obama on the defensive and keep him there. He's looking primarily defensive already.

Shades of Kerry, Gore, Dukakis, Mondale, et al. He's gonna lose it, the Big Mo and the election, if he doesn't pull away hard from this proven disastrous path, so well trod by the above gallery of Dem losers. Oh well, you can bring a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

[KELLI2L]

I have to say - I love saying I TOLD YOU SO about Obama. Who doesn't love being right (I mean correct) chuckle.......

[KELLI2L]

Neither candidate is president material - IMO - what do we do now ????

[knowhelpnow]

Has there been any candidate that has been president material?
Obama has it beat 100 X above McSame. He just has to stand up and stand behind what we want for our country. Do we want a country run by Corporatism, Imperialism and Fear; or a country on Hope, Inventiveness and Compassion.

[Bub]

Mr. Obama:
The assumption of moving to the right, or the center, is that there is no appeal to leftist policies.

Hello! The rightist policies are a trainwreck. All that's required is salesmanship. That's the Presidential candidates Job.

Moving to the right is not salesmanship, its not leadership, its followship. People vote for leadership for leadership positions.

And people are already moving to the left. We've got $4 gas, endless war in Iraq etc... You had a double digit lead before you jumped the shark a couple of weeks ago.

Like it or not, you are the leader of the left. It's your job to sell the left. It's your job to move people to left - not yourself to the center. It's your job to make Leftist policies attractive to the voter, and rightist policies unacceptable to the voter. That's the job of the candidate. How hard should it be to sell peace and prosperity during these times? We voted for you because you were the best salesman. NOW SELL dammit - or give the nomination back to Hillary or Edwards.

This is why Kerry failed. He didn't try to sell his positions, he tried to adopt positions that other people believed in to get them to vote for him. He handled Bush like he was a kitten, instead of taking a sledgehammer to him. You can't sell stuff you don't believe in. If people have to choose between true-republican and republican-light, they'll go with the real thing.

[whistlindiksee]

Here! Here!
Or is it Hear! Hear!?
Either works for me!

[Jazzbeau]

Hear! Hear! I believe.

UK origin? At least, frequently heard as shouts of support from members of the House of Commons (or the House of Lords) to speakers before those bodies.

[zann]

Grow up! This isn't a game. Its war with Iran, its jobs, its letting the rich turn the U.S. into an unindustrialized third world country, its social security and medicaire and the supreme court, its the future.

Have some faith in Obama, not that he's a leftie, but that he has sound, disciplined judgement and intelligence. Read his actual words instead of all the gossipy, anxious or self-indulgent criticism. I went through a disappointment phase too, but reading his words helped me get over it. .

If you've got to dump on somebody, dump on the actual Republicans. Obama needs us all if he's going to beat McCain.

[lebec]

well said! I hope it is heard.

[jriegel]

Amen. Counter-balance the move to the center with ongoing innovation. Keep putting forward new ideas and keep putting the American people at the center of change. It is only the ideas for how America will be revitalized that will solidify his supporters and continue to intrigue the fence-sitters. But, for God's sake, Senator Obama, don't begin sounding like 'same old, same old".

[Netizen]

Candidates are who they are Not that we should stop making input. But in reality they can't hear us.

[truthyguy]

You can put it in7 steps, or 70, or 700. But it all comes down to courage to do what you know is right, instead of compromise out of fear. The Dems have become so fearful that they know nothing but compromise. It has become a way of life with them to the point that they no longer even realize they are doing it. Whether it's "impeachment off the table" or signing on to continued funding of Iraq or capitulation on healthcare, the Dems have lost their soul and heart for a fight for what is right. I thought that Obama was the educated, reflective and articluate person who would put a new direction for the party and the country before the voters as if to say - Happy with what Bush has done these last 8 years, then don't vote for me. Want reasoned decisions and a path back to the fundamentals this country has stood for in its best years, then vote Democrat. As simple and straight forward as that. But here we go again. With nothing going right for the Reublicans in any area of governance, somehow the Dems will manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory unless they get some balls.

[whistlindiksee]

Arianna, you said, "In an unrelated riff, Brooks let the audience know that, based on an off-the-record conversation with President Bush, he could categorically assure us that we would not be bombing Iran."

Of course Bush was able to assure Brooks he doesn't intend to bomb Iran--Cheney hasn't told him about it yet!

[Bub]

I suppose that during the same conversation, Bush told Brooks that Daschle would make and excellent VP.

[Sanity01]

I guess it's fair to "HOPE" that he doesn't "CHANGE" anymore.

[Sanity01]

It's hard for me to decide which Obama I like best. The "biggest liberal in the Senate Obama" that the far left worships and conservatives have that record to point out. Or the flip-flopping Obama who the far left can't tolerate and the conservatives actually fear more.