No matter what side of political spectrum you are on, you cannot, you cannot and you absolutely cannot deny one of the most admirable aspects of Senator Obama and his campaign: Discipline. "No drama Obama" was the theme of his campaign throughout primary and general. A campaign of this huge magnitude which went through highs and lows, but barely ever gave up on discipline. Obama’s style of management deserves appreciation.
Go back and check history. You will discover that discipline is something very alien to democrats. You don’t have to go too far back. Just take a glance at Kerry’s 2004 campaign. The rift between Kerry’s campaign and Terry McCauliffe’s DNC during election was well known. No drama-Obama hired decent, sober, sincere and result oriented members in his team (although Gov. Dean also deserves credit here to steer DNC clear of any such rift this time). People like David Plouffe, David Axelrod, Bill Burton, Robert Gibbs. Just compare them to likes of Rick Davis, Steve Schmidt, Karl Rove or even if you compare them with democrats like James Carville, Mark Penn, Terry McAuliffe, you could easily sense that Obama’s team has got class. They all have common sense of purpose, and have mutual respect for each other. None of them came with personal agenda, or even if they did, they all translated it into one common goal, one cause. It never felt that one was trying to show other person down. It never looked like they were craving for limelight. I barely ever saw David Plouffe in media, whereas Steve Schmidt and Rick Davis were seen and heard in media every other day. Even when Plouffe had to communicate, he talked directly to the voters via youtube. He made voters feel important and that they had stake in this election. All in Obama’s team followed chain of command and barely did we hear any ego issues coming out of the campaign. The efficiency and effectiveness of Obama’s team has been a major factor is this victory. The team steered clear of unwanted controversies and dramas. If you remember General Wesley Clarke and his comments on John McCain very early in the general election. As soon as those comments emerged, Obama curbed it down right away. Although, I despised the move at that time. I was of opinion that it is not like a politician going after a military man. Instead it was one esteemed military man going after the other. Why should we get in the middle? Let them fight it out. And besides Gen. Clarke had a point. Had Hillary been the candidate, she would have most definitively used Gen. Clarke as her top surrogate and would have gone after Sen. McCain’s record. But Obama cut the controversy out the moment it emerged. (Bush and swift boat veterans, take note!). Was it a wise move? Probably.
Bottomline is, Obama prefers to stick with a turbulence free, cordial and effective team and that, in my opinion, is his forte.
Now, what I have been hearing in last few days has left me a bit worried. Yesterday I read an article on politico which basically mentioned La Raza lobbying hard to get at least two Hispanics in the cabinet. African American and Asian American groups also wanting something similar. I have no problem with any race serving in White House. Diversity is good. Besides these people stood in long line for our party, and helped us win the White House. They deserve credit and appreciation. But my concern is that when people from different factions exert extreme pressure on President Elect to pick member of their choice, chances are that their choice will come with his personal agenda and may or may not be working towards the same cause. The comrade and mutual respect among team members may not exist. The choice may or may not be competent for the job. My suggestion to all these groups is, Obama is very much aware of political importance of picking a Hispanic or African American. Leave him alone. He knows how to choose his team. Let him choose the best cabinet based on qualifications, sincerity and comfort level. If the member happens to be of Hispanic or African American origin, that’s a bonus. But he cannot afford to have a dysfunctional team, nor can we. All should be welcome to give their opinion, but then they should move aside. I also have been reading that Senator Kerry, Bill Richardson and Kennedys are all campaigning hard to win a position in the cabinet. Look guys, we all are grateful to you for your support at critical time. We cannot thank Senator Kerry enough for introducing Obama to the national stage. We are very much appreciative of Gov. Richardson who endorsed Obama at a time when Rev. Wright issue was taking central stage, and his endorsement somewhat diverted the topic (even Chris Wallace had to rebuke his colleagues at Fox & Friends). His support definitely helped Obama among Hispanics in New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado. And Gov. Richardson happens to be extremely competent as well, without an iota of doubt. But come on. Give Obama room and space to breath. Democrats historically lack discipline, team atmosphere and money during campaigns, and worse of all, they barely ever win. But when one of them does display great management skills and succeeds on his bid to White House, everyone wants a piece of it. They want to take their pre-victory ineffectiveness to the post-victory cabinet. We cannot afford that folks. We have a golden opportunity at hand right now. We have option to set an example, and make this party a default choice for countless Americans for years to come, or we can continue to be a joke and create unnecessary chaos, and therefore disillusion countless youth who are finally taking interest in democratic party.
Please note, this does not mean we cannot criticize President Obama on his policies in future. We certainly can, and we should. Unlike Republicans, Democrats do not follow their leaders blindly like sheep, and then eight years later they realize their leader has been screwing them (wasteful spending, bigger government, etc).
At the end, I will leave this video of Bill Maher from last night as a food for thought. Watch 3:35-6:10
http://www.youtube.com/...