Why America needs Obama

The arguments for Obama’s candidacy have been made by many before, by people such as:

Andrew Sullivan

Tom Friedman

Frank Rich

Let me offer my distill own distillation of the reasons down to two core issues:

1) Obama is the candidate (from either party) best capable of telling the American people not just what they want to hear but what they need to hear. This is one of the most important qualities of a great leader—they need to be willing stand up and speak out for ideas that may not always be popular. On policy, Obama is nearly indistinguishable from Clinton. The differences between the two are hardly substantial. But in terms of their capacity to lead our country in a new direction, there is a canyon between them. Clinton in the White House will have to confront nearly half of the electorate who are deeply opposed to her ideas simply because she is the one speaking them. I don’t think Clinton deserves all of the animosity held against her. But some of it has been caused by her attitude toward the press, which is defensive and controlling—even by the standards of most campaigns. Personally, I harbor no resentment toward her, but the fact of the matter is that much of this country loathes Hillary Clinton, and their attitudes are unlikely to change in the coming year. Putting Clinton in the White House will perpetuate the partisan head-butting between right and left in our government. The political dialogue will continue to be framed as an us-versus-them combat.

Obama, by contrast, has what Sullivan calls, “a transcendent ability to rise above Washington’s partisan bickering.” Republicans have a hard time disliking him, because the guy is…likable. He has the charisma of a JFK combined with the visionary view of history of Lincoln. He has a sense of humor. People like being around him. All this will be a powerful asset when the time comes to put into place new controversial policy ideas. More than any other candidate, Obama will be able to explain and persuade the American people (all the people—not just the Dems) why we need new policies. If he can explain these ideas to the people, he can explain it to Congress. And that means results, not just partisan stonewalling.

2) The second reason we need Obama is to repair America’s tarnished reputation in the world. Friedman was one of the first to articulate Obama’s unique capability to restore America as a country the rest of the world respects. Partly that is his skin color—which is much closer to the color of most of the rest of the world than any other candidate. Partly it is his history, having grown up in Indonesia, which makes him one of the few candidates who has lived for any significant time abroad.

And finally, Obama’s capacity to work with countries around the world springs from his exceptional propensity to empathize. Obama is an incredible storyteller, as demonstrated in the two books he’s written, Dreams of my Father, and The Audacity of Hope—both of which I’ve read and highly recommend (I couldn’t make it through It Takes a Village—it’s painfully trite). In his writing, Obama shows that he thinks about a problem from many different angles. He understands why different people see an issue in different ways. This is critical in any sphere of politics, but especially in foreign relations. The first thing a president needs to do to establish relations with other countries is to show that he understands their needs, their hungers. I yearn for the day when America is admired around the world as a beacon of hope, as a pillar of human rights and democracy. Obama can move us in that direction better than anyone else.

So, now comes the ultimate question: can he do it? Well, Stanford beat 2^nd-ranked USC this football season, so I don’t see any reason why the underdog can’t topple the powerhouse in this case.