Read this article from the Chicago Reader published in 1995, and see if you don't come away from it as impressed as I was about how authentically progressive, sincere, and grounded this man is - and how consistent the Obama of 1995 is with the Obama of 2008. This guy really believes in the "new politics" that he's talking about and has been living it for over a decade. It's not "platitudes" and he's not an "empty suit." And to think that he has a great chance of actually being sworn in as president next January.
What if a politician were to see his job as that of an organizer," he wondered, "as part teacher and part advocate, one who does not sell voters short but who educates them about the real choices before them? As an elected public official, for instance, I could bring church and community leaders together easier than I could as a community organizer or lawyer. We would come together to form concrete economic development strategies, take advantage of existing laws and structures, and create bridges and bonds within all sectors of the community. We must form grass-root structures that would hold me and other elected officials more accountable for their actions.
- From an article about Obama from 1995, before he entered the Illinois State Senate
Note: I found this article from the Chicago Reader by reading Scott Kurashige's excellent column on the Huffington Post.