Barack Obama and The Road Ahead

I just came across this You Tube video of Barack Obama speaking to his headquarters campaign staff in Chicago, shortly after winning enough pledged and super delegates to become the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee for President. It's about 13 minutes, if you choose to watch it.

Much has been said in the media since he declared that he would not participate in the public financing system, including Friday's op-ed piece by one of my favorite columnists, David Brooks at the New York Times. Brooks generally "tells it like it is" in a concise and often tongue-in-cheek manner, and this column is no exception, in my opinion. I agree with Brooks that Obama is far from "naive". I think that he has decided that this election is the primary cause of his life (replacing campaign financing according to Brooks).

This is where the video comes in. As he says to his campaign staff: "If we had lost Iowa, it would have been OK. One of the other Democrats would have emerged... and we would have moved forward. But because we won, ...now we don't have a choice, because, now, if we screw this up, all those people who I've met, who really need help, they're not going to get help... Now everybody's counting on you, not just me... the whole country is counting on you to change it for the better."

My takeaway is this: Obama has decided that this is the real deal, and whatever it takes, he needs to win. We are witnessing, I believe, his coming of age politically. Faced with the choice between accepting the $84 million in public financing and whatever the Democratic National Committee might be able to add vs. the Republican National Committee's very deep pockets, vs. the ability to raise hundreds of millions from his 1.5 million small (public) donors, I believe he made the only choice he could make. Politically, it was certainly the correct strategy, but how do you tell 1.5 million supporters that their millions of contributions (averaging less than $100 each) don't count?

Now, as one of my good friends said lately, "I thought you liked John McCain." I still do. I admire his record of "straight talking" and not always toting the party line. I have always loved mavericks (big surprise!!) And, had it been any other candidate other than Obama, I probably would have supported McCain. The deal breaker for me is the "vision" thing.

Obama's vision is born of his community organizing experience and his belief in the power of the grassroots community to effect change. This may be the first time a "naive" community organizer has had enough political savvy to actually get elected. Try to think of it as a combination of the positive points of Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter - strange as that may sound. I voted for Richard Nixon (yes, I confess) because he knew how to navigate Washington, and I voted for Jimmy Carter because of his idealism.

Let the games begin!!