Hillary leads, but Obama is the man to watch

[Ethelk2044]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/andrew_sullivan/article1844497.ece

In the winter of 1991 a colleague urged me to check out one of the emerging Democratic candidates. There was a gaggle of them, but one had begun to acquire a reputation for real talent. He had a fundraiser in DC and I tagged along for the ride. By the end of the day I was convinced that I had seen the next president. It took seeing Bill Clinton in the flesh to appreciate his full political skills.

I’m not going to jinx myself with predictions, but I couldn’t help but remember that day this past week when a colleague tipped me off to another fundraiser in Washington. This time it was for Barack Obama. The event was in a yuppie disco/ restaurant on the Potomac waterfront.

The crowd was strikingly diverse – mainly white but with a heavy black and Latino presence and skewed young. Obama took the stage and the energy in the room intensified. With no notes, this gawky intellectual rallied his base – part seminar, part sermon. He seemed tired, even a little irritable. You could sense him reach through exhaustion towards the rhetorical tropes that he has honed on the trail.

If I had to find a single word to describe his effect it would be easy: real. In a universe of political plastic, Obama has a rough, authentic edge. I thought, after a couple of decades in this jaded town, that I was beyond being inspired any more. But despite myself I felt the cynicism ebb.

[goclark]

1. I felt the same way when I saw him at USC

It's just something about him that sparkles with the words, "New Day."

[BeyondGeography]

2. Here's more

<Obama’s great appeal is that his identity and the content of his character rebrands America both to itself and to the world. To America he offers a promise of repairing the painful, toxic breach of the Iraq war and the Bush presidency. To the world he sends out a signal. Look at Americans again. They do not all look or sound like Cheney.

In many ways Obama is far more representative of contemporary multi-cultural, majority-minority America than Bush, Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld or any of the crusty old white guys running for the Republican nomination. He is the son of immigrants, a racial mix, a political liberal who has honed his message the hard way – by arguing with conservatives, listening to their arguments, reasoning as well as organising his way to public office.

Am I swooning? Maybe. Are Ameri-cans? Not yet. But they are restless in a way that suggests we are not about to witness a political adjustment in Washington so much as a sea change. It may not happen. Wartime is a deeply unpredictable time. But there’s a reason for Obama’s wide appeal. A man may be meeting a moment.>

[silverojo]

3. I'd vote for Obama if he won the primary

But he speaks far too slowly and hesitantly to come off well during debates. He needs to pick up the pace a bit, and then he'd be a lot more effective in getting his point across. :)

[Colobo]

4. Great post!

[Kingstree]

5. Obama is getting everyone's attention

People are ready for a change and Barack Obama is the one to make it happen.