http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=171320§ion=Opinion&forumcomm_check_return&freebie_check&CFID=42713663&CFTOKEN=93948034&jsessionid=8830a5eebc392a581432 applaud The Forum for its recognition of the movement forming around the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama (editorial, July 5).
For Obama to attract over 258,000 individual contributors over the span of a mere five months is astonishing. And the nearly $60 million dollars raised by the campaign fundamentally changes the make-up of the race, especially considering so many other candidates are accepting contributions from lobbyists and political action committees. Obama does not. Beyond the dollar figures, it is also interesting to note that over 600,000 Americans have visited www.barackobama.com and volunteered for the campaign.
All of this indicates a fundamental movement for change in our nation’s politics. Obama readily admits that these numbers along with the enormous crowds being generated at his appearances are not rallying to Barack Obama the individual. They’re being drawn by Barack Obama the candidate and messenger of change. A change in how we conduct our national affairs, rejecting the polarized cynicism of Washington, so that we can work together to accomplish the common goals of our country. In Obama’s words, “We can build a new kind of politics that recognizes we’re all connected as one people, that we rise or fall as one nation, and that we’re ready to turn the page and start anew.”
However, your editorial goes on to describe Obama in terms of experience as being “an empty suit.” Admittedly Obama has not been in the national spotlight for very long. Voters, while having distinctively positive feelings about Obama, do not yet have a lot of background information about his life and history of leadership. But inexperienced or an empty suit? I don’t think so. Obama is someone who not only speaks about change, but has spent a lifetime working to bring it about.