Yes, Virginia, Obama is a Politician

I had so many thoughts after Obama's speech yesterday, but none of them were organized enough to write. Today maybe a few are.

1. I don't think it's going to change anyone's mind. If you supported Obama before, you probably still do, if you didn't you still don't.

2. It should now be clear to everyone with a reasonably open mind who listened to the speech, what he means by change. There were so many shortcuts he could have taken. If he were Bush or Clinton, he would have taken them. After having presidents who openly lie for so long, the change is this: Obama doesn't. He told the truth, maybe not all of it, but orders of magnitude more than politicians of our age do.

2a. Yes, Virginia, Obama is a politician. And that's not a dirty word. We have politics to make decisions as groups of people, at a local, state, country, even a global level. If we ever elect someone to the presidency who says he or she is not a politician, they are lying, bigtime.

3. Sometimes things get so bad that only the truth will do. We usually like bedtime stories from our politicians, tales that give us a good night's sleep. Obama certainly has a good bedside manner. And while race isn't the top item on our national to-do list, it is on the list and has been there, as he said, since before the founding of the country.

The Wright videos have brought race to the front, have started a discourse here and elsewhere, that has enormous potential for improving communication. And while the problems may be unsolvable (none of us are going to change how we feel or what we believe) we must not let them stand in the way of working together and getting stuff done. You don't have the time to change me, and I don't have the time to change you. Our first order of business is to get Obama elected, and after that, we have a lot more work to do.

I think this is how historic problems are properly dealt with. You side-step the personal issues, and just start assuming the problem has been solved, and then one day you look up and things are a lot better. Not perfect, they never are, but better. (This is why the "fierce urgency of now" is something to seize and embrace, to not pass up. We can use it to get past the attitudes and beliefs that are in our way.)

4. Obama is not Howard Dean, and the Wright videos are not the Dean Scream, because Obama has the delegate and popular vote lead, and we're deep into the primary season. He makes the decision whether his candidacy is viable, not Hardballs, 350, The Suffocation Room, Space The Nation not even Cowntown and certainly not Tim Russert. (Sorry, the first was a typo, then I had fun with the others.)

5. Maybe the delay in choosing a candidate is not such a bad thing for the Democratic Party. Maybe the time can be used to figure out wtf the Democratic Party is in 2008. Maybe we can participate in that decision this time, maybe it isn't just the insiders and fatcats (love that word!) who get to call the shots. Maybe we should organize a BloggerCon for May to discuss the future of the Democratic Party. I bet some interesting ideas would come from such a meetup.

Comments

[vanessa04]

"After having presidents who openly lie for so long, the change is this: Obama doesn't. "

On Friday, Obama to a number of cable networks that he never, in 20 years, heard Rev Wright make the statements on the videos, and that, he, Obama, was never present in church when Rev Wright made those statements or anything like them. In fact, Obama told Anderson Cooper, had he been present on such an occasion he "probably" would have left.

On Tuesday, he said he did and he was. And he didn't.

I don't know what you call that, but here in reality-world, we call that openly telling a lie.

What I fail to understand is why people who complain about politicians lying seem to have no problem with THIS politician LYING.

[hhkeller]

Between Rezko and Wright he wont get independents.
Parties over sad to say. Should've come clean earlier.

[nomobull]

even the chicago papers have put rezko to rest so what are you talking about.and what are hillary's dealings exactly ?and i hope you want to be judged by the words of others since you think its okay to do.

[tigertang]

I think Demo is going to lose. Obama will be nominated by Demo, because MI FL voters will be striped. Even not striped, it still hard for Clinton to catch obama with delegates. Then with rekzo trial going, Republicans will have more ammunition to defeat obama in GE.
Before, due to the media, we really did not know Obama too much. Now it seems to me he is a POLITICIAN as USUAL.
I only speak of FACTS:
Obama claimed superior JUDGMENT on Iraq War Vote, which he did not have right to vote at the time. But from his JUDGMENT to Rekzo and his Pastor, I don't think he has the judgment to be command-in-chief. HE SAID I TRUSTED REKZO-- that's his own words. That's FACT.
Obama corrected Rekzo donation from $150,000 to $250,000 over the weekend. Now he gave a speech. Every media is focusing on his great speech, who cares his Flip-Flop on donation issues? But that is bad. That is the same calculation media used to accuse Clinton. So HE IS A POLITICIAN AS USUAL.
His judgment and his words on his pastor, is hard for anyone to SWALLOW.
I think he is smart but naïve politically, just like he will meet leaders from evil countries without preconditions.

[ATLiberal]

Really, work on the spelling and grammar and you will be taken more seriously.

[DavieB36]

In case you have not seen every major newspaper in the country Obama has satisfied all questions on Rezko. The only people listening to that are the far right and Clintonistas.

[Lon]

I think there is one mistake in this post. Of course strong Obama opponents will not be swayed by the speech. Nor will strong Obama supporters. But there remains an important part of the electorate that was not strongly to either side. And if Obama is the nominee, as it is still likely he will be, then Clinton supporters will need to decide what they want to do, and they will have to consider what they think of the speech then. And this people might be swayed by the speech, or fail to be swayed by it in an important way. I don't know which way they will go, but this remains an important speech politically whose success won't be known for at least a couple of weeks.

[lincat]

Thanks for this article.

[tracymcd]

Politics is the art of finding compromises to ensure enough support to get something done. Obama's speech has the potential to bring a lot of people back to the fundamentals of his campaign. Good for Obama... I expect he'll be back in front within 2 weeks. Problems become opportunties for a good politician becuase people WANT to know how he'll handle something difficult. This was a public test.

Regarding, the Democratic Party... they are a lot like Iraq. I don't expect them to stabilize without a great leader to unite them in the next campaign. I'm betting on Obama to pull that off. HRC uses divisive techniques to triangulate situations. I think her air supply will be cut off before the convention and she'll make herself unelectable in the effort to make Obama unelectable. She's a problem he'll leverage over and over to show that she may never quit but she will also never win. If she makes this her frist AND last great stand she'll have to go back to the senate and become a re-play of Teddy Kennedy's late political career. Beloved by some but essentially flawed and unelectable.

Please do a BloggerCon on this and hopefully before the Convention. But don't expect any super-delegates to attend. :^) It's too open a process.

[BigBen]

That is called a rush to judgment. Stop ,consider,reflect. Do we really want a black supremeist in the White House. A person who cannot say to a friend I disagree with you and will not be part of your plans for America?Get him elected and then stop and think. That is exactly what Obama wants .Elect me and then think what I am all about.Never mind that my life long friend hates America. Never mind that my wife is ashamed to be American. Just elect me.Please don't ask any questions.Just elect me.Now.

[lizr]

OK I think it's safe to see that Big Ben is not so big - infact he is really afraid of black people. I always think that when people are afraid of black people it has a lot to do with how they have treated them in teh past and therefore are afraid it will come back to them.

Calling Obama a black supremacist (which he can't spell) is just idiocy. Did you watch the same speech I did?

[True90808]

Do we want a black supremecist in the Whitehouse? That's a mighty far stretch. I believe you could make a better case that the majority of the presidents who have taken office were themselves white supremecists following an elite white corporate agenda. Ask me which one I'd take over the other if what you say is true and not far out speculation? No question - the one that hasn't been there before.

[MPeter]

Finally some records about Hillary's WH schedule are released. The Problem is that most of the info is reducted!!! Here is what is clear. Hillary was in the WH when Bill ejaculated on Lewinsky's blue dress. There is also treasure find regarding HRC's qualifications to be Commander-in-Chief:

"The schedules show trips packed with plainly traditional activities for a first lady, along with some substance. For example, in her January 1994 visit to Russia with her husband, her schedule is focused on events with other wives. She sat in on a birthing class at a hospital, toured a cathedral and joined prominent women in a lunch of blinis with caviar and salmon." This shows how Hillary could answer the 3 AM call from Chelsea for a Tuna Sandwich!!!!!