Obama?
So Obama is officially considering running for President. He says he’ll decide after the election. As those of you who have been reading this blog for a while know, I’m really hoping he runs. (Even though my dad thinks that it’s the kiss of death for David Brooks to be encouraging him to run.) It would be great to have a candidate that I was really excited about for a change. Maybe, as Rebecca Traister argued in Salon last week, it’s not fair that I can’t get enthusiastic about Hillary, but I can’t.
What do all of you think? Has anyone read his new book?
(Sorry for the light posting lately — I’ve been busy and am just back from a business trip, where I didn’t have internet connection.)
October 23rd, 2006 at 10:54 pm
I am really hoping Barack Obama runs for president. Recently, I read the Time magazine article and my father, retired, said that this country was not ready for a black president or a woman president – what I thought: no, this country is ready, you are not ready. We are way overdue for diversity in all levels of government, but especially in the executive branch where hopefully it would trickle down to other levels. Even if he could not win, Clinton/Obama would be an unbeatable ticket!
October 24th, 2006 at 11:37 am
Obama is way more exciting than Hilary Clinton is, because no one has any baggage about him (aside from his being black and having a foreign-sounding name, which I love because I also have a foreign-sounding name) and almost everyone has some beef, big or small, with Clinton. I think she’s been very loyal to New York as a senator, but I would not could not in a box vote for her for President, because she’s too centrist and sold us out on the Iraq war. I voted against her in the primary as a protest, knowing that I’ll vote for her for Senator in a few weeks because she’s the better of two options.
I think the GOP would love for Clinton to be the Dem candidate in 2008, because even people who like her hate her. Some of it is just ludicrous unfairness (her being “too smart” and all the headband crap) and some is lingering resentments from political inexperience (her time trying to reform healthcare during Bill Clinton’s first adminsitration), but plenty of it is of her own doing (Iraq, Israel, and centrism).
Anyway, I get that shivery excited feeling up my back when I think about Obama as president, and I very rarely get that shivery feeling about politicians. He’s just got charisma. Bill Clinton charisma. Only without the sexual addiction problems, I hope.
October 24th, 2006 at 5:27 pm
I’m sorry, but I can’t jump on the Obama bandwagon yet – I would really rather he get some actual accomplishments in the Senate, maybe even finish out one full term. Right now, to me, he is “all hat and no cattle.” No wonder everyone wants him to run – it would be so easy to discount him in a real race . . .
Not that I don’t think he is an awesome, inspiring person, but I really need to see some more substance there . . .
October 24th, 2006 at 5:28 pm
Sen. Obama is certainly a moving speaker, and I like a lot of his general thinking. (Haven’t read his published output yet, but hope to soon.)
However, I don’t know enough about his performance in the Senate to say confidently whether I would like to see him run in this upcoming Presidential election or not. If he needs four more years’ worth of seasoning, I’d like to see him take them, rather than run too soon and fail.
Obama/Villaraigosa in ’08, anyone?
October 24th, 2006 at 6:41 pm
I first heard of Obama on this blog, so it’s interesting to read here about this potential next step. He sounds great to me, but unfortunately, I don’t get a vote!
Don’t know about a black president (I think you have to live in the US to get why that’s such an enormous issue), but if the UK and Germany can cope with female leaders (both cultures, I think, are more sexist than the US) then surely the US is ready?
October 24th, 2006 at 8:24 pm
Jennifer, I think the reason a woman leader seems further off in the US is the Presidential system, versus the Parliamentary system. To be nominated, you need to win in the primaries, versus being selected by the party.
October 25th, 2006 at 5:32 pm
I agree. Obama is exciting and untainted. He seems like a man of integrity. As for his lack of experience…I can’t imagine him doing worse with the experience he’s got than W has done with the experience he brought to the White House.
October 26th, 2006 at 2:50 pm
Give me an inexperienced senator over a career politician any day. Obama is what this country needs – new ideas and lack of influence from major lobbyists/corporations. What I can’t stand about the presidential cabinet is that all these people have worked in high-level government since Reagan or prior. Are they making better decisions due to experience? In my opinion it is the contrary – they are so entrenched in decades old dialogue.