After closely following months of campaign media coverage and analyzing half-a-dozen Democratic debates, I have managed to compile the following list of Presidential candidate Barack Obama's distinguishing characteristics:
1. He never supported the war in Iraq.
2. He was a member of the United States Senate for less than two years when he decided to make a run for the Presidency.
3. He is a wonderful inspirational speaker.
End of list.
Yes! I realize it is a very short list.
Apparently, I am not the only political observer who cannot seem to muster a credible collection of presidential qualifications for Mr. Obama. In a recent television interview, Texas State Senator Kirk Watson, a vocal Barack Obama surrogate, was completely unable to list even one of Barack Obama's legislative accomplishments when pressed for an answer by Chris Mathews of MSNBC's
Hardball.
Instead, a stumped and dumbfounded Watson attempted to evade the question with unsuccessful attacks on Hillary Clinton as he limped through an interview that, undoubtedly, deeply embarrassed the Obama campaign.
(See the interview at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj4VK9wVAi0 )
In the absence of any true presidential-esque credentials, one is left to wonder what, exactly, is driving Obama-mania and, more importantly, why do Democratic voters seem so willing to jump on the bandwagon of a candidate whose greatest offering seems to be the ability to emotionally "move" audiences with his inspirational speaking style? I wonder, are we looking simply to elect the next "Orator-in-Chief"?
Don't get me wrong, I love being on the inspirational bandwagon as much as the next gal. However, whenever I consider jumping aboard with the rapidly-growing Obama gang,
an old bit of wisdom immediately comes to mind about how easy it is to stand on the sidelines and criticize the players in the game. As a non-credentialed newcomer, Barack Obama, essentially, has the luxury of being the cheering, jeering guy on the sideline.
His cheering seems to say...
Vote for me, I've never actually played the game so my entire playbook can be based on feel-good rhetoric and pie-in-the sky idealism. After all, I, Barack, have the audacity of hope!
On the other hand, Obama's jeering rhetoric suggests that voters should somehow punish fellow candidates Clinton and McCain because they had the audacity to qualify themselves for the presidency with long lists of verifiable political credentials and years of experience gutting it out in the real-world trenches of Washington politics.
For me, in the above, Obama makes a very twisted and illogical argument for supporting his candidacy. Indeed, it is an argument that only the most gifted of orators could successfully sell to the American public.
Mr. Obama has a long way to go before I am convinced he is qualified to lead this country out of Iraq, out of economic crisis, and back into its rightful international role as an admired and respected "Shining City on a Hill".
Certainly, Barrack Obama has proven his words can make us "believe" in America. He is far from proving his ability to lead a United States Government that is worthy of American's belief.