My Third Encounter with Barack Obama

I've had 3 encounters with Barack Obama, and each of them surprised me. I share them with you because as weary as we all are, there's no doubt that the election on Tuesday is the start, rather than the end of anything. What we're agreeing to start, either with Obama or McCain could impact our lives, our children, and our neighbors. So it's worth engaging in a thoughtful - rather than knee jerk - debate about the choices and the results.

My First Encounter.

Boston, MA. The Fleet Center. The Democratic National Convention.

Anyone who's been at a political convention knows that it's 90% staged for the TV cameras. The 'big' speeches, the signs, the manufactured hubub. There is very little that happens at a convention that can be considered unscripted or unplanned. I was at the convention shooting what was to be a critical scene for my film, Inside The Bubble. We knew that Kerry would be the nominee, and that this would be a Coronation. So all events leading up to that were window dressing. Nothing important.

I was standing at the top of a set of bleachers, talking to one of our photographers, and waiting for something to happen. I remember it this way - there was someone on the stage speaking. The crowd was restless, noisy. Then - as the talk went on - the cavernous Fleet Center became quiet. On stage, an unknown speaker had done the impossible, he'd broken through the noise and clutter and garnered the attention of the entire room. It was Barack Obama.

Re-read the speech if you haven't in a while, or watch the video.

He was a candidate for the US Senate - having not yet won the seat that would make him just the 3rd black US Senator since Reconstruction. I don't know how he got on that stage. It clearly wasn't an accident. But it was an extraordinary moment. And it was the moment that I found myself wanted to know more about him, his vision, and the platform that he had so eloquently proposed. It was - frankly - in stark contrast to John Kerry's "Reporting for Duty" acceptance speech given just two nights later. Perhaps the Kerry speech was the right political message, but it certainly wasn't inspirational - and he didn't win.

My Second Encounter.

A small fundraiser in NY, long before there was any Presidential Finance Committee - at the offices of The Rockwell Group. I was invited to meet Senator Barack Obama along with 50 or so other New Yorkers in Media, Publishing, and Tech, I was drawn as much by curiosity as anything else. At that point, Hillary was the clear front runner - and many of my friends where long-time Hillary supporters and I expected I'd join them.

I spoke to Barack for perhaps 5 minutes. We talked about technology, about the need to reach across our borders and fix our deeply broken relationships with former allies, and about the need to embrace entrepreneurs and the spirit of creation and invention that had made it possible for both of us to build lives here. I've been to plenty of rubber chicken political fundraisers. And I've done my share of grip-and-grin photos with political folks. But I came a way from this encounter with a profound sense of someone who had listened, absorbed, and didn't look over my shoulder for a guy who could write a bigger campaign check. It was, much like 2004, a moment that was inspirational. I took away some hope that this kind of politician could make it thought he gauntlet and into office. But it seemed unlikely.

My Third Encounter.

Last Wednesday night. My wife Tivos the Obama infomercial, and late after everyone in the family was asleep, I decided to scan through it. It was, after all, political propaganda I presumed. But in that half hour, I found that the spirit and the hope that had struck me first in 2004, and again in 2006 was still raw and ready to be drawn to the surface. Watching Barack Obama with his young daughters, I couldn't help but think that his concern for children - not just his ours - was genuine and heartfelt. He was a father as much as he was a politician. And that feels important to me. Second, I'd never heard the story of him watching his mother struggle with health insurance forms as she died of cancer. Here too I was struck by just how clearly his personal agenda and his political agenda overlap. This resonated with me - as I want our President to act on behalf not just of our needs today, but of our children's needs. And their children too.

The other night, Jon Stewart said on TV that in 2000, he would have rather seen John McCain win than Al Gore. It was a startling statement - and reminded me of just how far McCain has come from the independent, heroic, political thinker. Today he seems to me unfocused in his beliefs, reaching for a final act in what had been a respectable political career, and willing to do whatever it takes to win the White House.

There are lots of things to consider - but here's how my decision comes down.

Taxes And The Economy:

Many of my self-employed entrepreneurial friends are afraid that Obama will tax them, while McCain won't. I don't see it that way. We need to innovate our way out of this crisis. And that means supporting innovators. Shifting support away from old industries like automotive and oil will be painful, and those big powerful lobbies won't roll over. But I see McCain's short term view (4 years at most) favoring big oil, big industry, and old institutions. Obama instead seems to be about embracing new ideas, new industries, and new individuals who can help bring those ideas to bear. I think we're hungry to be business leaders again - and I think the world is looking to us for new ideas in the environment, technology, science, and the life-sciences. I want to be part of that passion for innovation.

The War.

McCain wants to win it. Obama wants to end it. I am unclear how you win something that has no goal post, and no therefore no foreseeable end. I think we need to get out - and I don't want to see that war go on a day longer than it has to. It's important to know that Obama hasn't made any clear promises about withdrawal. And I suspect that many Democrats will be disappointed on his first day in office, he doesn't order and immediate withdrawal. But he hasn't offered that - and I suspect he'll be measured in his actions. In any case, I want my candidate to begin to rethink foreign policy around alliances, and partnerships, and shared economic needs. The Bush Doctrine needs to be repudiated.

Health Care.

We are the wealthiest nation on earth, yet health care becomes more and more a sea of red tape, and bureaucracy, and HMO's who say no first, and maybe only after their customers are put through terrible paces. We're living in a world of 'separate and unequal' health care, and it's only going to get worse without substantial change in how drug companies, and HMO's are allowed to profit from providing care. For John McCain, this is about math. For Barack Obama, it's about his mother. It is about inequity, and about fixing a broken system. I want it fixed, not just the math but the methods.

There's more of course. We don't know which John McCain will govern if he wins. The one I liked in 2000, or the one who selected Sarah Palin in 2008 and has shifted his political stands from centrist to far right.

I'm voting for Barack Obama because I think he is remarkable human being, deeply ethical, thoughtful, and committed to the kind of public service that few people are.

Comments

[RRonin]

If you know someone who is still undecided about this election at this late date, share this cogent, concise post with them. It lays out the arguement for Obama perfectly.

[clevelandchick]

Mr. Rosenbaum,

We are not in a war in Iraq, we are an occupying force of a nation whose government was toppled by our forces, to be technical...we already "won" the war. An occupying forces doesn't 'win' anything, they just leave.

I think if the citizenry of our nation was educated on this fact, there would be an even larger divide between those who support our presence there and those who want us to leave. But the pundits, Republicans, the government and even the Democratic politicians still insist on calling it a war. If there is any 'war' still going on it's in Afghanistan and it's probably not 'winnable' either.

I saw Barack Obama tonight in Cleveland...at least 50,000 people were there. People starting arriving hours before they even opened the gates. It was amazing. Every race, age, gender, and orientation was there. It was the antithesis of a McCain or Palin rally. It represented the 'real' America.

[LindyK]

Let me get this straight. YOU MET HIM ONCE? Hence your misleading "My Three Encounters with Barack Obama." Coming soon, my own article, "My Seven Encounters with Barack Obama." (It will include photos of Obama I retrieved from the Internet.) Stay tuned.

[eden4barack08]

What? Maybe you should read it again.

[wearyvoter]

My husband met Senator Obama during his run for office in 2006. He attended a rally where a heckler had gotten up and had started in. Obama asked the person's name, and steered him into a conversation. He engaged with the young man, rather than shutting him down. He listened to the guy's viewpoint. Later, at the end of the rally, several people stayed to chat with Obama. My husband was one of the folks who stayed. He came away with the same impression that you did: that Obama stayed focused on him during the conversation, rather than looking past him to the next person.