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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bilow who wrote (213929)	1/22/2007 2:45:30 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Obama is a centrist who is supported by Warren Buffett and Obama was against the Iraq War BEFORE we ever went in. -s2@ItsTheMcCainsOfTheWorldThatWillGetUsIntoMoreWars.com

To: Bilow who wrote (213929)	1/22/2007 3:01:50 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 281500

Obama has staked his success on the belief that many of us are looking for a different way of talking about politics and policy, about life. He writes the way he believes we'd like to talk. chicagotribune.com What's Obama thinking? Just read his book By Mary Schmich Columnist The Chicago Tribune January 21, 2007 Barack Obama's book, "The Audacity of Hope," is also a book about fear, which is one reason to read it. I hadn't read it until last week for the same reasons you may not have. It's a fat book (376 pages). It's not cheap ($25). And reading it may make you feel you've been abducted into the Obama pep squad, when, in fact, you're not sure you're ready to wave your pompoms. But now that Obama is about to run for president, anyone who wants to talk presidential politics should read it. There are other politicians equally worthy of running for president. There's not, however, another one who has so precisely and readably laid out the workings of his mind and a vision of this country. Obama has staked his success on the belief that many of us are looking for a different way of talking about politics and policy, about life. He writes the way he believes we'd like to talk. He can be tart and critical without being disdainful, funny without being snide. He's unapologetically Democratic but with the recognition that, in his words, his party can be smug, detached and dogmatic. He's particularly engaging when he meditates on fear and doubt, his own and ours. His fears, as he portrays them: Losing. Humiliation. Mockery. Misinterpretation. The temptations and insularity of politics and fame. Can he stay honest? Can he stay in touch? Among our fears, as he sees it: Losing our jobs. Getting sick. Living without opportunity. Growing old without dignity. Obama seems to suggest that when we understand the fears that bind us, we'll be more motivated to escape the "industry of insult" that has corroded our ability to solve our shared problems. That's a beautiful hope. But contempt for "the other side" has infected our political discussions for so long that many people have a hard time differentiating their political identities from their essential selves. A modern axiom: How we vote is who we are. Us vs. them. Red vs. blue. Me vs. you. And you're not just wrong, you're evil. Are we the people really ready to give that up? Obama seems sincerely to believe we are, and that it can be done without forfeiting our best convictions. He's not afraid to be explicit about his views: We need to invest more in scientific research, teachers, new forms of energy. We can't afford the tax cuts that have led to a huge national deficit. Global warming is real. He's just as clear about some of his doubts. Here's a passage that could make both red and blue voters turn purple: "It is my obligation, not only as an elected official in a pluralistic society but also as a Christian, to remain open to the possibility that my unwillingness to support gay marriage is misguided, just as I cannot claim infallibility in my support of abortion rights." Fortunately, his book isn't all lecture. Like any good writer, he turns life into stories and uses stories to frame ideas. He writes of lying in his one-bedroom Washington apartment, after his election to the Senate, watching ballgames and eating take-out, discovering he's become "fully domesticated, soft and helpless." He drives to Galesburg, near the Iowa border, and talks to workers at the Maytag plant after the company announces that it's moving to Mexico. He goes to visit Warren Buffett and talks tax policy with the world's second-richest man. Whatever you think of Obama, "The Audacity of Hope" is a useful basis for debate. It offers an outline for musing on the issues that he turns into chapter titles: race, faith, family, opportunity, the world beyond our borders. The political divide in this country isn't just rhetorical. But the words we use and the tone we choose affect our ability to communicate, persuade and listen. You don't have to agree with everything Obama says to learn from how he says it. Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune