MA Gov, Deval Patrick - "Why America needs Obama"

[shawmut]

By Deval Patrick
January 5, 2008

I AM proud to be a Democrat, but sometimes Democratic politics can be tiresome.

For years, candidates have appealed to voters by arguing how they can win or why any Democrat would be better than any Republican. They miss the fact that voters are more interested in why Democrats should win than how we will. They mistakenly believe that discontent with Republicans will assure a Democratic victory, when in truth most of us aren't buying 100 percent of what either party is selling. So, election after election, we end up with the same old debate and commentary about competing electoral tactics rather than a vision for the future.

We have a chance this time to choose a different kind of candidate, a different kind of president.

Barack Obama is the only candidate in the field who has demonstrated the ability to unite people across differences around common cause.

From his work in Chicago neighborhoods, to the Illinois Senate, to the US Senate, to his success in campaigning for other candidates in so-called red states like Missouri, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Virginia, Obama has shown an uncommon ability to work across differences and get meaningful results. Applying that talent to a vision for a better, safer, more just, and more prosperous American future could not come a moment too soon.


continued ... http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/05/why_america_needs_obama/

[Radical Activist]

1. He gets it.

Great statement!

[athena]

2. This is an amazing piece.

It's worth reading the whole thing.

It's made me realize what Obama means when he talks about uniting the country. There are people out there who voted for Bush and consider themselves Republican "values" voters. Even though they may be against abortion and gay marriage, they are also having trouble putting food on their families (as Bush would put it). Most liberals (including those on DU) would write such people off as hopeless rednecks. Obama, on the other hand, would say to them, "I disagree with you on abortion, but I respect your opinion and can understand where you're coming from. I also know that you're having trouble making ends meet. If you bear with me on abortion, I will do all I can to make your life easier." Does the "values" voter care more about his family's well-being, or about some woman he has never met who has just had an abortion? It's Obama's lack of condescension that makes him (relatively) popular among independents and republicans. He doesn't try to unite the country by shifting his positions. He does it by acknowledging people's differing views and convincing them to acknowledge his.

I say all this as a staunchly pro-choice feminist. I, myself, can't see where the anti-choicers are coming from, but I do know that for a politician to reject them outright (the way I probably would) is not going to achieve anything.

Make no mistake: Obama is no ligtweight. He's a true progressive, but he happens to know how to talk to the opposition in a way that will get them to listen.

[sandnsea]

3. "It is his time"

"And here is where the wise guys and gals come in. The political commentators and self-appointed experts start telling us that we can't have what we want. I heard that throughout my own campaign. I ask the people of America to do now what I asked the people of Massachusetts to do: take a chance not so much on a candidate, but on your own aspirations. If we do, then Obama wins - and so do we.

Once in a generation, a candidate comes along who is committed to more than succeeding at the partisan food fight in Washington. Once in a generation, a candidate comes along who is both book smart and street smart, who is equally at ease with the meek and the mighty - and perhaps most especially with himself. Once in a generation, we get the opportunity to take a quantum leap forward in our politics. Barack Obama is that candidate and this is our opportunity. I don't care if it's not his turn, because I know in my head and in my heart that it is his time."

[Nick_Irving]

4. Avoid War. Avoid Obama.

America must AVOID supporters of war like Obama:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_WBT35CKBs

[Nimrod2005]

5. So right on, that's why I like him!

[alteredstate]

6. Kicked and recommended! n/t