There has been so much written about the Presidential candidacy and campaign of Barack Obama, that it seems unlikely that anything has remained unsaid.
Too bad! Here's my two cents.
So much has been made of Senator Obama's race and his relatively short time in public office that few have considered that perhaps these are exactly what make it possible that he is exactly what he seems to be.
Being an African-American makes him enough of an outsider to certain centers of power to inhibit his becoming a part of the way that government and industry intertwine in this country. Not that this cannot be overcome, but the racial aspect means that it would likely take some time. And half of one term as Senator is just not enough for that to have taken place.
So newness plus at least a residue of racial divisiveness in this country means that a charismatic idealist like Barack Obama can conceivably get to this point ideals intact. And the only way that such a candidacy could ever get to the heights that this one has is to be funded by an unprecedentedly massive grass roots funding campaign.
I believe that Barack Obama is exactly what he seems to be, and what millions and millions of Americans pray he is as they send in their ten, twenty and hundred dollar donations. The question that still must be answered is: Does it matter?
This is probably the last opportunity that the American public will have to "buy back" their country from the massive corporate lobbyists and special interest groups that have hijacked the United States government for so long.
Success, in this case will mean much more than just a victory for Barack Obama on the first Tuesday in November. It requires an unprecedented landslide for not only the Presidency, but for Congressional Democrats as a whole.
This statement is made even more remarkable in that it is being made by a lifelong conservative.
A Barack Obama Presidency without a clear mandate, backed up by a clear majority in both the House and the Senate will not allow the kind of sweeping change to occur that will give the American public the result that they are praying for. And make no mistake, this situation still doesn't guarantee the desired result either.
It is a very real possibility (maybe even probability) that the corruption and graft that are such a constant feature of how government works today are such an integral part of the whole as to be inseparable. If that is the case, how likely is it that having had their hopes dashed by the failure of an Obama Administration, that the populace will have enough hope, belief and grit left to believe that it is even possible to fix what is integrally wrong the United States Government... Let alone to take the requisite steps to right the numerous wrongs.
So either Barack Obama is what he seems to be and what is believed of him by his supporters, or he is not...
Assuming for the moment that he is, he will then either succeed in changing the government into one responsive to the needs of the people or he will fail...
History has conspired to place us here right now at this crossroads. The stakes are extraordinarily high.
Either this is in fact a Democratic Republic, or it is not.
And if Barack Obama proves himself to be what he seems but finds that the wrong fork in the governmental road was taken too far back for him to change...
Will we ever know?