The Audacity of Obama

On January 16th, Barack Obama (D-Illinois) announced the creation of his Presidential “exploratory committee”. In other words, Senator Obama will be testing the waters about the feasibility of his presidential campaign in the upcoming months. The Senator’s future looks fairly bright; in a recent poll targeted towards registered members of the Democratic Party, Obama’s name came second to only Hillary Clinton. In addition to the being the second most popular Democratic presidential hopeful, 17% of voters considered Obama to be their primary candidate. Not bad for a guy with less than two full terms of Congressional experience.

Are Democrats honestly ready to use Obama as their collective representation for the next Commander-In-Chief? 2008 is clearly going to be an extremely crucial time for Democrats. It’ll be the first time since 1928 that a Republican presidential and/or vice presidential incumbent has declined to run for the Presidency (Cheney has denied any interest in running). Thus, the Democrats will be up against a newly selected, freshly picked Republican candidate without any major ties to the Bush Administration. Are Democrats really putting their best foot forward by promoting an individual who currently has spent more years in college than in Congress?

Obama, a believer in “ground-up” politics, started his career as a community organizer. He eventually found himself in the Illinois state senate, and before he knew it, he was up against Republican multimillionaire Alan Keyes for an empty Senate seat in 2003. Add his Ivy League background along with two books about himself and you have Obama’s political resume in a nutshell. What is so Presidential about that? Obama is a smart, articulate guy, and definitely has the credentials to be a good Senator. However, he does not by any means, have what it takes to be the next Chief Executive of our nation.

Why? It’s simple. In addition to his extremely limited Senatorial experience, Obama has zero foreign policy experience. He also doesn’t have any experience governing, or leading. He’s a senator with constituents; he serves their interests and that’s that; he has never had to make any executive decisions. Furthermore, he has never served in the military, unlike 30 of the past 42 Presidents. Even democrats John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter had done their share of military service before considering the Presidency. The two past Democratic Presidents were both governors of their respective states; Clinton governed Arkansas for 12 years while Carter served as Georgia’s head executive. Despite the nature of their politics, both Clinton and Carter had extensive leadership experience. Shrouded by Republican presidents (Reagan, Nixon, Ford, and Bush) both Clinton and Carter managed to capture the votes of Americans coast to coast in order to win the Whitehouse. How can Barack Obama become the next Democratic President of the modern political era if his resume is absolutely nothing like those of his successful predecessors?

In addition to his lack of gubernatorial experience, Senator Obama lacks much leadership experience to begin with. Incumbent President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were both CEO’s; Bush was also a managing partner for the Texas Rangers baseball franchise. Obama does not share similar credentials; the former community organizer has only dealt with leadership on an exclusively small-scale basis, one that cannot possibly qualify him to lead a nation of three hundred million individuals.

Obama’s foreign policy experience also comes under question; how can he be trusted to deal with foreign affairs effectively if he can count the number of years he’s been a member of the Senate Foreign Relations committee on one hand? In an age of terrorism, we need a President that can efficiently deal with other nations; one that is diplomatic yet determined to protect democracy, freedom, and American interests worldwide. How can a junior Senator with minimal leadership and foreign relations experience going to learn the tactics necessary for such a cause?

Barack Hussein Obama’s unconventional name and African-American heritage have nothing to do with his downfall as a Democratic presidential hopeful. I am a firm believer in the tenets of democracy and I do believe that one day there can certainly be a non-white President, whether he’s Indian, Chinese, Hispanic, or Black. Obama’s downfall lies in his inexperience and naiveté. He is not doing his beloved state of Illinois any justice by becoming a two term senator and then suddenly catapulting himself to a Presidential candidate. Barack Obama needs to learn the meaning of the word “gradual”. In addition to realizing that progress is a slow process and the accumulation of political experience is an event which occurs over a long, long period of time, he’ll also realize that stating his dreams for a universal healthcare plan as his primary goal is also a bit farfetched (to say the least). When Obama came to Brown, he iterated that Americans needed to change the way politics were practiced and perceived; this is a process that needs to begin first and foremost in the Senate, where Republicans and Democrats will be battling for the next four years. Primaries are approaching soon and I absolutely and earnestly hope that the Democrats can choose a valid, experienced candidate that will not embarrass the face of their party. After all, who could doubt the audacity of hope?