Four score (minus 69) months ago, I penned a brief note outlining the reasons why I thought former Vice President Al Gore would be the ideal Democratic nominee for President in 2008.
My thinking on this subject has evolved.
Allow me to step back for a minute and, hopefully, answer the “Ok, who are you and why should I care?” questions.
I have been a combatant in, and/or a close observer of, the political arena since 1990. I worked for polling firms in my home state of Michigan (Go Spartans!) as well as in the D.C. area. While I might not be Joe Sixpack, I am not of the “Gang of 500” either.
Beyond that, I have been a lifelong student of the American Presidency. As you do, I take my vote for that Office very seriously. I try to use the knowledge I have acquired to ascertain which candidate would be the best equipped to become a good Chief Executive.
Case in point: in 2000, I was a card-carrying Republican. A moderate, some might even say a liberal, but I wore the jersey nonetheless.
Even being immersed in GOP-land, and no particular fan of then-Vice President Gore, I voted for Gore for President. I could not bring myself to vote for “my” party’s nominee that year, then-Texas Governor George W. Bush (you might have heard of him, he has been in the news lately).
Why? Because after reflecting on what it took to be a good President, based on everything I had seen, read and heard about the office and the candidates, I didn’t think that Bush was up to the job and a Chief Magistrate shouldn’t require training wheels.
I took a fair amount of heat from my Republican friends at the time, and immediately after 9/11, I briefly thought I had misjudged the man. Perhaps he had the right stuff, the Roosevelt-esque (either TR or FDR, you pick) resolve to deal effectively with the threats to our nation.
Then time passed.
The Manichean worldview emerged, the failures mounted, the inability to reject poor counsel, the triumph of personal loyalty over competence, the rejection of reason in pursuit of some “damn-fool crusade” (to quote Obi-Wan Kenobi, not talking about the historical Crusades) to remake the world instead of focusing on defeating terrorists. Everyone knows the story. Suffice to say that my worst fears were realized.
Turning back to the present, a much-changed world from 2000 when South Park still shocked and the tech magazine of record, The Industry Standard, was as thick as a Toledo phone book, the 2008 election seems so much more critical to our national well-being than the Bush vs. Gore contest did at the time. The next election could very well be a defining election, perhaps a realigning one. In any event, with the primaries around the corner, it is unquestionably time for those who want to show their colors in support of their preferred candidate to speak up, make their stand, and unfurl their flag.
After much deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that Senator Barack Obama is my candidate. I believe he will be a very strong Democratic nominee and, if elected, a great President.
I have come to the conclusion using the same criteria I articulated when I touted a potential Gore candidacy: Experience, Approach to Governance, Policy Wonk-itude, Right on the Big Issues of the Day, and a President for all Americans, not only the Powerful.
- Experience can not be narrowly construed as the number of days one holds public office. If that was the only measure, former Senator Strom Thurmond should have faced off against Senator Robert Byrd in the 2000 presidential elections. Experience is the product of the challenges one faces and how one deals with those challenges. Judgment is the ability to discern how to interpret challenges and how to make the right decisions. If a President possesses good judgment, it improves his odds of making decisions that history will prove to be the right ones for the United States. After reading through Senator Obama’s impressive biography (which I will not re-count here), I am absolutely convinced that he has the depth and breadth of experience, and the judgment, to lead our nation. - Approach to governance. Throughout the campaign, Senator Obama has demonstrated that he is a thoughtful, reflective individual. While some have said that his campaign needs to show more passion (perhaps they are confusing him with Teddy Pendergrass?), I want the next Chief Executive to display some cool-headed logic when making the tough calls in the Oval Office. After eight years of a cut-rate cowboy version of Captain Kirk, our nation could use a President who is a little more Spock. Moreover, to use the vernacular, Spock could throw down when he needed to as well. Turning back to Earth, I believe that Senator Obama has displayed the wisdom and proper balance between head and heart that our next President needs. - Policy-wonkitude. After following his career in general and his debate performances specifically, Senator Obama holds his own with any of the other Democratic nominees for President, including those who have served in the Senate for decades. When it comes to health care, he released a very thoughtful plan that, if enacted, would mean that millions of Americans currently without health insurance would find it much easier to get the coverage they need. His specific policy prescriptions concerning energy, education, on disarming terrorists, and improving America’s standing as a global economic power are detailed and demonstrate his deep understanding of many pressing issues. - Right on the Big Issues of the Day. He was right from the start on Iraq. When many of us, including myself, were wrong on the issue, he was right. Holding his position as he did, which was very unpopular at the time, took guts. In addition, it demonstrated his foresight. That is what I want in my next President. - A President for all Americans, not only the Powerful. The Obama campaign is a campaign because of the groundswell of support he received from hundreds of thousands (n.b., is it millions yet? I haven’t counted recently) of Americans of all backgrounds across the country. He is not of the Establishment, but he can work with those in the Establishment to further our national interests. The charge that he is beholden to special interests would not stick to him, whereas other candidates might have a slightly more difficult time fighting off that line of attack. Moreover, he has proven his ability to work across party lines when the situation warrants bipartisan action (the Lugar-Obama initiative regarding unsecured conventional arms overseas is one such example). While a Democrat, and a Progressive one at that, he does not incur the sort of teeth-gnashing and fist-clenching among Republicans and Independents that might be a hindrance to common action in support of important national goals and objectives.So, I close on this point:
While any of the Democratic candidates would be a vast improvement over the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania, I believe that Senator Obama is the best choice.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post.
The author of this piece, Jason Booms, is the President & CEO of Booms Research & Consulting, an Alexandria, VA-based opinion research and strategic communications firm.