When Colin Powell said on Meet the Press that Senator Obama had the "intellectual vigor" to address the problems that faced the nation, it spoke volumes. This election promises to be the most chronicled one since 1968. With out a doubt in the election post mortem, choices by both Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama will be reviewed, reviled and debated. Yet at the end of the day, what this election may have turned on was temperament. America has had eight years of a cowboy mentality, which said shoot first and ask questions later. Eight years of an Administration that treated good governance and transparency like it was a negative strand virus. Eight years of a government that had the feel of a theocracy rather than a democracy. The two candidates are making their final pitch to the voters. Senator Obama’s final pitch includes the basic economic polices that he has been putting forth with consistency with a return to his hope theme. Senator McCain is returning to his mantra of Obama being “not ready”. In addition, buoyed by Senator Joe Biden’ assertion that the next President will be tested the McCain team hoped that a rekindled attack on the foreign policy front would be a life preserve, polls suggest otherwise.
The fact that America is vulnerable to attack no matter who is the Commander and Chief, while giving pause, ought not be earth shattering news. Safer, but not “safe” remember? As far back as the Whisky Rebellion that challenged George Washington, American Presidents have faced events that have tested their mettle. President Eisenhower, former Supreme Commander of Allied Forces was tested by the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. What did those two “tested Presidents have in common? Both respected warriors. No American President will be able to inoculate themselves from the unknown and unforeseen threats whether they are foreign, domestic, or natural. So in response to Senator John Mc Cain, what type of President does America need in times of crises?
Senator John McCain began his campaign toting his vast experience, while dismissing Senator Obama as a lightweight and giving him unenviable moniker of “risky”, a few weeks later Senator McCain attempted to "flip the script" on Senator Obama by saying now he is a change agent. Finally in the campaign’s last days, running low on ideas, issues and time, Senator McCain offers a closing argument that is a hybrid of Bush the bad one and Obama the risky one. But let’s go back a few weeks when the verdict of the voters seemed to be in the balance. Crisis management in real time, what Colin Powell called the "final exam". Starting with the early moments of the unfolding Wall Street meltdown, through the final passage of the massive bailout bill Senator McCain appeared to be the one lacking experience, risky, and the antithesis of reform. I don’t know whether it was a cult of personality, bad advice, a visceral dislike for Obama, or the aging process, but Senator McCain came across in the most crucial part of the campaign as grouchy, petulant, impatient, impulsive, and yes - erratic.It seemed that Senator McCain too often gave way to the lower angels of political based decisions. What has been "slept" on during this political season is not, that the greatest danger of the McCain administration was the continuation of the Bush Policies, but that a McCain Administration would continue the divisive narrative of the Bush/Rovian/Cheney politics. The choice to go to war in Iraq, rather than rout out the Taliban, and continue to hunt for Bin Ladin in Afghanistan, the scandal in the Justice Department, the "outing" of Valerie Plame all were decisions rooted in politics rather than sound, "country first" policies. Often those many of those choices were not vetted in the light of bi-partisan politics, but done in a veil of secrecy. Now, America has grown weary of Washington, and its machinations that seemed to have benefited the few, and bankrupted the country. And as we are hearing now, save the extreme right wing of the Party, this act has worn thin on many Republicans. John McCain's last 30 days are a stark reminder of the politics that America is rejecting writ large. Senator McCain's robocalls and "associations" riffs have sparked outcries from both the left and the right. For all practical purposes, what dooms the McCain campaign is the "bigness" of this election. As Senator Obama often says, we can't make a big election about "small things".
At the birth of the nation the fledgling nation turned to George Washington, on the precipice of the Civil War a divided nation chose Lincoln, in the darkness of the Depression America put their confidence in FDR, and at the dawning of America's New Frontier we elected John F Kennedy. In my lifetime America was robbed of a great light at a defining time June of 1968. Now, forty years America has an opportunity for redemption. John McCain is an American hero, a warrior, a man to be honored. Yet in this defining moment, this is not a time for bluster, and impulsiveness, and division. At this critical junction what America needs is the rare combination of intellect, temperament, leadership, and vision that can lead America and not divide. Like other crucial times in this countries’ history, America needs a man of the times, and for the times.
That man is Barack Obama.
The fact that America is vulnerable to attack no matter who is the Commander and Chief, while giving pause, ought not be earth shattering news. Safer, but not “safe” remember? As far back as the Whisky Rebellion that challenged George Washington, American Presidents have faced events that have tested their mettle. President Eisenhower, former Supreme Commander of Allied Forces was tested by the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. What did those two “tested Presidents have in common? Both respected warriors. No American President will be able to inoculate themselves from the unknown and unforeseen threats whether they are foreign, domestic, or natural. So in response to Senator John Mc Cain, what type of President does America need in times of crises?
Senator John McCain began his campaign toting his vast experience, while dismissing Senator Obama as a lightweight and giving him unenviable moniker of “risky”, a few weeks later Senator McCain attempted to "flip the script" on Senator Obama by saying now he is a change agent. Finally in the campaign’s last days, running low on ideas, issues and time, Senator McCain offers a closing argument that is a hybrid of Bush the bad one and Obama the risky one. But let’s go back a few weeks when the verdict of the voters seemed to be in the balance. Crisis management in real time, what Colin Powell called the "final exam". Starting with the early moments of the unfolding Wall Street meltdown, through the final passage of the massive bailout bill Senator McCain appeared to be the one lacking experience, risky, and the antithesis of reform. I don’t know whether it was a cult of personality, bad advice, a visceral dislike for Obama, or the aging process, but Senator McCain came across in the most crucial part of the campaign as grouchy, petulant, impatient, impulsive, and yes - erratic.It seemed that Senator McCain too often gave way to the lower angels of political based decisions. What has been "slept" on during this political season is not, that the greatest danger of the McCain administration was the continuation of the Bush Policies, but that a McCain Administration would continue the divisive narrative of the Bush/Rovian/Cheney politics. The choice to go to war in Iraq, rather than rout out the Taliban, and continue to hunt for Bin Ladin in Afghanistan, the scandal in the Justice Department, the "outing" of Valerie Plame all were decisions rooted in politics rather than sound, "country first" policies. Often those many of those choices were not vetted in the light of bi-partisan politics, but done in a veil of secrecy. Now, America has grown weary of Washington, and its machinations that seemed to have benefited the few, and bankrupted the country. And as we are hearing now, save the extreme right wing of the Party, this act has worn thin on many Republicans. John McCain's last 30 days are a stark reminder of the politics that America is rejecting writ large. Senator McCain's robocalls and "associations" riffs have sparked outcries from both the left and the right. For all practical purposes, what dooms the McCain campaign is the "bigness" of this election. As Senator Obama often says, we can't make a big election about "small things".
At the birth of the nation the fledgling nation turned to George Washington, on the precipice of the Civil War a divided nation chose Lincoln, in the darkness of the Depression America put their confidence in FDR, and at the dawning of America's New Frontier we elected John F Kennedy. In my lifetime America was robbed of a great light at a defining time June of 1968. Now, forty years America has an opportunity for redemption. John McCain is an American hero, a warrior, a man to be honored. Yet in this defining moment, this is not a time for bluster, and impulsiveness, and division. At this critical junction what America needs is the rare combination of intellect, temperament, leadership, and vision that can lead America and not divide. Like other crucial times in this countries’ history, America needs a man of the times, and for the times.
That man is Barack Obama.
