Barack Obama
Betsy's Page
The Democrats just love this guy. They love the idea of him. Dana Milbank today looks at Obama's appearance at a church yesterday. If a Republican had talked this way, Kevin Phillips would have been busy writing an afterward to his book of scary warnings about an American Theocracy.
<<< Whatever he is, he is something new for the Democrats. Without affectation or awkwardness yesterday, he got off phrases such as "we are blessed" and "we can raise up this covenant" and "you need to embrace Christ precisely because you have sins to wash away."
"Amen! Amen!" a woman cried out.
As President Bush did on the stump, Obama spoke of his own embrace of Jesus after a secular childhood -- what evangelicals call their "testimony."
"Kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt I heard God's spirit beckoning me," Obama said beneath the cross and organ at National City Christian Church. "I submitted myself to his will, and dedicated myself to discovering his truth."
Jim Wallis, the gathering's host and the Democrats' favorite evangelical leader, had gone to heaven. "This is a brother who gets it!" he announced before Obama spoke. When Obama finished, Wallis proclaimed him "a new national leader who is going to teach America about the relationship of faith and politics." >>>
But when Obama speaks of his faith and uses it to buttress his belief in liberal policies, Democrats swoon. They're talking already about how he should run for president or be Hillary's vice presidential candidate. Of course, the fact that the guy hasn't done anything yet except give some crowd-pleasing speeches is beside the point. Hey, the guy is mixed race, has a good story, and gives a good speech - what more do you need? Not since William Jennings Bryan, has a guy been spoken of for the White House on the basis of a speech.
If he were white, not one single person would be talking him up as a presidential possibility. We all know that that is true, but, of course, Milbank won't mention that. It would be too crude. Instead, we get Milbank pondering whether this is the right moment for Obama or should he wait and get more experience but also more of a history as a senator, the type of history that, execpt for Warren G. Harding and John F. Kennedy, has doomed so many ambitious men in the past. As it is, hopes are already being raised so high for this guy that by 2008 if a Democratic presidential candidate does not choose him as a vice presidential running mate, you're going to have a lot of people feeling disappointed that their guy got dissed. We'd see a similar situation to how some black voters are feeling now about Kweisi Mfume in Maryland - oh, sure the Democrats talk a good game, but when push comes to shove the party won't go for the black guy. It will become an imperative to choose Obama as the running mate no matter who wins the Democratic nomination.
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