Who Does Barack Obama Think He Is?

Who does he think he is? We must ask this question, because it's the kind of question that would be asked if a 45-year-old female political neophyte declared, as Barack Obama did Saturday, that she was a candidate for the U.S. presidency. In fact, the public wouldn't get the chance to ask it of a 45-year-old woman with barely two years of national political experience, because, unlike Obama, the media would never take her seriously and we would rarely, if ever, hear her name.

Some say we should celebrate the candidacy of a minority. Yes, we should. But we weren't interested in doing that when former Senator Carol Moseley Braun ran in 2004. Like Obama, Braun was launched onto the national scene with a stirring and powerful speech - in her case, to the 1992 Democratic party convention. In fact, the parallels are astonishing: she is also African-American, also graduated from an elite law school and in 1992 won election to hold the very same Senate seat that Obama now occupies. But that's where the similarities end. Braun served as a federal prosecutor before entering politics and, after a full six-year term in the Senate, she went on to serve as an ambassador. Yet, the media and political pundits never took her seriously. I recall being excited about her candidacy, only to find in every article that mentioned her an undercurrent of "who does she think she is?" At the age of 57, her campaign never caught fire.

We must ask this question, "who does he think he is?," because we asked it of an Ivy Leaguer with far greater experience and stature, Elizabeth Dole. Like Obama, Dole graduated from Harvard law school. Her confidence and presidential aspirations in the 2000 campaign were backed by cabinet-level service under two presidents: secretary of labor under President Reagan and secretary of transportation under the first President Bush. Despite her national political leadership and experience as the president of the American Red Cross, where she controlled a budget that rivals most large American corporations, we didn't think she had the stature to be president.

I am using "we" loosely: It is a combination of the public, media and political pundits. But a study by the White House Project, a non-profit organisation that promotes women's leadership, placed the refusal to take Dole seriously squarely on the media. Marie Wilson, a founder of the White House Project, documented how the media undercut Dole's authority with coverage that was less frequent and less substantial, even though Dole was number two in the polls behind George Bush. Although I'm a Democrat, I found Dole's candidacy and energy were electrifying. But, sadly, the news articles focused on her hair, her clothes and how tightly she controlled her public appearances. The tone of those articles was unmistakably belittling. You didn't have to read between the lines to know the reporter's opinion ("I mean really, who does she think she is?") After working on an incumbent's Senate campaign, I know how tightly and carefully national politicians control their image. Yet the media singled Elizabeth Dole out - and it worked. Six months later she couldn't raise enough money to be a serious contender.

We must ask this question, "who does he think he is?," because there are 14 female US senators with more demonstrated leadership and experience, one of whom is currently millions ahead in fundraising and continues to enjoy a substantial lead in the polls. If Hillary Clinton were a man, her gravitas, formidable fundraising ability and giant presence in the party would dwarf his bid. Yet the media rushes - no, tramples - to fawn over a young man with far less life experience, less national political experience and less business experience. We know very little about Obama, and yet we're ready to hand him the keys to the free world.

Self-anointed progressives rush to project all manner of leadership onto Obama's clean slate. Yes, he has a gift for communicating and has good ideas -- but that's never been enough before. I don't believe someone so utterly inexperienced in high-pressure politics and naive to the national stage would be given such attention if a woman wasn't the frontrunner. This wishful thinking is consistent with the findings of the Barbara Lee Family Foundation that voters project more experience and knowledge onto men who have the same background as women. In Obama's case, we're seeing this willingness to project in the extreme. We've had women more experienced than Obama considered unqualified to run for governor in many states. Double standards for candidate qualifications is not progress; it's very, very retro.

Finally, we must ask this question because no one in the media is concerned with who is going to represent Illinois in the Senate while Obama is out gallivanting around the country trying to be president. Remember when there were whispers that 2004 could be Sen. Clinton's "time" - her shot at the presidency? The media and pundits howled at the thought of Sen. Clinton shirking her senatorial duties: who does she think she is, winning such an important election and then tossing it aside for bigger fish? And Clinton was four years into her senate term. Obama's only two years ino his term yet no one questions the forsaking of his position for his own vainglory.

In our social system of double standards, we relieve men of stunning obligations. Having the proper credentials to serve as President of the United States shouldn't be one of them.

Originally posted here.