E Pluribus Unum, Baby: Is Obama The One?

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Wednesday December 27, 2006 · 7:18 AM PST

2006/12/27 · 07:18

Douglas Burns in the [Caroll, Iowa] Daily Times Herald:

[W]hen you listen to Obama, the substance of thinking, the cadence of his reasoning, his unassuming acceptance of people, you hear a Midwesterner.

I would agree that Obama's "groundedness" -- as well as his charisma and poise -- is his strong suit. And as for his lack of experience and/or accomplishments -- it means almost nothing. After all, we elected George W. Bush. The End.

No, we don't necessarily want an accomplished statesman or a practiced executive. And we're skeptical of role models -- we knock people off their pedestals as fast as we can set them up there. Hero-presidents? Not gonna happen -- just ask President Bob Dole. Rather, we want someone who wants to be like us. And who among the likely candidates would that be?

"As the child of a black man and a white woman, someone who was born in the racial melting pot of Hawaii, with a sister who's half Indonesian but who's usually mistaken for Mexican or Puerto Rican, and a brother-in-law and niece of Chinese descent, with some blood relatives who resemble Margaret Thatcher and others who could pass for Bernie Mac, so that family get-togethers over Christmas take on the appearance of a U.N. General Assembly meeting, I've never had the option of restricting my loyalties on the basis of race, or measuring my worth on the basis of tribe," Obama writes in "The Audacity of Hope."

E Pluribus Unum, baby.

But let's dig a bit deeper and ask the more crucial and practical follow-up question: Is Obama the guy who stands a chance at winning the majority of the following states in the general election?

Minnesota
Wisconsin
Iowa (Burns thinks he has a shot)
Illinois (he'd better carry his own state)
Missouri
Kentucky
Tennessee (the state that rejected Harold Ford)
Arkansas
Mississippi
Louisiana

Fact is, for the last 100 years, the candidate of either party who won at least a plurality of these states (bordering on the Mississippi River) got elected president.

Is Obama the guy who does that in 2008? Remember he (or anyone else) does not have to win all of them. Just more them than his opponent.

Is Obama the one?

And if it isn't Obama, can Hillary do that? Edwards? How about McCain? Giuliani? Romney?

Doug Burns again:

Obama connects with others for the simple reason that he knows himself and is confident in his strengths and comfortable with his flaws.

Is that enough to get him elected?

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