It’s time to choose a president, folks. That’s what Hillary Clinton would say. And she’s right. It’s time to pick a president. But, it’s also time to choose the leader of our party.
Our leader is going to have to energize our party. Our leader is going to have to NOT energize the other party. Our leader will define who we are as a party. And, most of all, our leader is going to have to have coattails, able to go out and campaign for other democrats running for congress.
Which one of our candidates would make the best leader of our party?
Better question: which candidate would NOT make the best leader for our party?
Here are some of the things I don’t want to see from our party’s next leader:
Likeability tour?
This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Are we going to choose a leader who has to go on a freaking "likeability tour"? Especially, a candidate who’s been around for so long, she probably won’t be able to change perceptions of herself.
Think about it.
A "likeability tour" for the future leader of our party? The leader who is supposed to lead the party for the next 8 years and beyond? The person who is supposed to go around and campaign for Democrats all across the country, letting them ride on her coattails.
If our next leader feels the need to go on a likeability tour, then we’re already in BIG trouble!
Galvanizing the Right
No matter who the Democratic nominee is, they will be viciously attacked from the Right. But, Hillary Clinton is the candidate who the right wing hates the most. There’s a passion to it. There’s a distain for the Clintons.
Will that be the next leader of our party?
How can a leader who is hated so much, go out and campaign for Democrats running for governor? How can a polarizing leader help us pick up seats in the Senate? Or the House?
How can we win over independents with so much hate in the air?
Energizing the Right is not something I would like to see in our next leader!
Planting questions/Not taking questions
Are we going to have a future leader who is unable to answer questions? Someone who has been caught planting favorable questions, so as to avoid tough ones? Someone who now has decided to not answer anymore questions from audience members? Someone who has to do interviews by satellite, instead of having the fortitude to be able to sit down with a Chris Matthews or a Tim Russert, face-to-face?
I understand why Hillary Clinton wants to be cautious at times. The media in this country is petty, biased and unfair. But there is a difference between being cautious with the media and having a consistent, outright fear of answering tough questions.
And, remember, this is going to be the person who helps other Democrats get elected around the country.
What we need in our next leader?
What do you want your next leader to be able to do? I personally want our next leader to be able to:
• Redefine our party
• Pacify, not galvanize, the right-wing
• Help candidates on the down ticket
• Campaign for Democrats across the country
• Have a broad-based appeal
• Inspire the American people to rally around Democratic leadership
• Have a unifying message that will resonate with swing voters
• Be a likeable figurehead for our party
Barack Obama
For me, Sen. Barack Obama is that person. I can visualize Obama delivering a powerful inauguration speech or a State-of-the-Union speech that motivates the entire country around his progressive leadership. I can see him rebranding our party, and the entire country.
And, I can see Obama doing what he did in 2006, campaigning for Jim Webb and Claire McCaskill and Ben Cardin and Sheldon Whitehouse and Harold Ford Jr. and Bob Casey and just about everyone else who ran for Senate in 2006. I can see him doing that same thing on a much larger scale as president of the United States, helping Democrats win victory after victory.
It’s time to pick the leader of our party, folks. Let’s not just try to win this election by one percentage point. That’s not going to do us much good in the long run. Let’s try to win BIG! Let’s go for the landslide. Let’s pick a leader who can inspire the American people and help other Democrats win victories across the country.
Let’s pick a great leader for our party!