Hope! Change! Vision! Charisma! A New Democratic Party!
I don't think there is a bigger supporter of Barack Obama on this site than I am. I have given the max to his campaign. I have made the required phone calls, and bought my t-shirt. I have purchased the bumper stickers, and yard signs. I have bugged my neighbors, and casual strangers, with his many graces. But, I have not lost sight of the reality of politics.
I have no delusions about the tenacity and skill it takes to rise through the Chicago Machine and the Richard Daly political apparatus. I have no illusions about why a 46 year old man is poised to become the next President of the United States.
The campaign of John McCain likes to refer to Obama as a "naif". I have to assume this is yet another attempt to confuse the very same voters who cringe from the word "elitist". Or else, McCain has no idea what "naif" means.
Our guy is the most skillful, bare fisted, political player to emerge on the national stage in generations. He won his first campaign by eliminating his opponents.
The day after New Year's 1996, operatives for Barack Obama filed into a barren hearing room of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.
There they began the tedious process of challenging hundreds of signatures on the nominating petitions of state Sen. Alice Palmer, the longtime progressive activist from the city's South Side. And they kept challenging petitions until every one of Obama's four Democratic primary rivals was forced off the ballot.
No one questions either the legality, or factual basis of these challenges. But, this is not the act of an idealistic, head in the clouds, candidate!
But the unsparing legal tactics were justified, he [Obama] said, by obvious flaws in his opponents' signature sheets. "To my mind, we were just abiding by the rules that had been set up," Obama recalled.
"I gave some thought to ... should people be on the ballot even if they didn't meet the requirements," he said. "My conclusion was that if you couldn't run a successful petition drive, then that raised questions in terms of how effective a representative you were going to be."
This is the tactic of a legal scholar who plays by the rules - right to the edge.
He learns, and uses the complex game board of modern politics to find, and exploit, the weaknesses of his opponents.
We see this again in the current Democratic Primary.
The Chicago Tribune reports another example of this political acumen in Obama's national strategy, by challenging in every region.
Unlike Hillary Rodham Clinton, rival Barack Obama planned for the long haul.
Clinton hinged her whole campaign on an early knockout blow on Super Tuesday, while Obama's staff researched congressional districts in states with primaries that were months away. What they found were opportunities to win delegates, even in states they would eventually lose.
Obama's campaign mastered some of the most arcane rules in politics, and then used them to foil a front-runner who seemed to have every advantage -- money, fame and a husband who had essentially run the Democratic Party for eight years as president.
"Without a doubt, their understanding of the nominating process was one of the keys to their success," said Tad Devine, a Democratic strategist not aligned with either candidate. "They understood the nuances of it and approached it at a strategic level that the Clinton campaign did not."
I find all of this to be very encouraging!!
This is not a political neophyte. This is not a dreamy eyed, sweet, young guy who wants to sprinkle Pixie Dust on the world's problems and wish them away. This is a highly developed political operative who knows how to use the rules to win.
Washington, DC will not overwhelm him. Beltway operators will not confuse or distract him. He understand the legislative process, he knows how to operate the levers of power, and he is not easily intimidated. The alignment of major DC players in the Obama camp should have been your first clue that this guy knows what he is doing.
So why, you wonder, am I writing this? Because I want to communicate two ideas.
First, in a reality based community, we must remember that, as much as we may be enchanted by the promise of an Obama Presidency, no one rises to this level in the power game without being able to play at a very high level.
* This is going to lead to compromise.
* This is going to lead to disappointment.
* This is going to lead to frustration.
Politics is, at every level, a game of negotiation and compromise. No one ever gets everything that they want. Political junkies, such as we, know that. But, we still get caught up in a vision of perfection. This is not going to be a perfect Presidency. Gird your loins and prepare to fight for your values, and beliefs, but also prepare for serious disappointment. Politics ain't bean bag.
Secondly, celebrate the idea that we have a real pro on our side. We have someone who seems to be rooted in community activism, Constitutional government, and a back ground that lends hope to the idea of attending to the needs of the millions who are being dealt out of economic game. We have someone who understands how to get things done, and the problems he seems to be focusing on are problems we all want tackled. But we must remember:
* The problems will not all be solved.
* The solutions will not be perfect.
* The Progressive agenda will not be implemented
completely.
Our Democratic candidate is a highly skilled political operator who seems to share many of values we espouse. He seems to know how to play the rough and tumble game in ways that may get the things we value addressed.
I can't help but remember the hopes I had for Bill Clinton. Coming off 12 years of Reagan/Bush I, I desperately wanted a solid Progressive, and was willing to over look the warning flags. Not this time!
Barack Obama is the best hope we have for a return to sane government - one that disentangles us from the various foreign policy disasters of the Bush Cabal, restores the Constitution as the governing document of this nation, and doesn't value corporate interests above those of the citizens.
It will not be perfect. It will just be much better.
So, shake off that Pixie Dust you Reality Based junkie, and get busy electing an improvement. Not a Saint. Not a creature of your wishes and fantasies. A politician. One who can redirect this country back to the path of rational policy.