Obama’s in the Eye of the Beholder

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3329/obamas_in_the_eye_of_the_beholder/

Can the junior senator from Illinois be both a stalwart progressive and a post-ideological unifier?
By David Moberg (Tama, Iowa)

Every August for 46 years, until she retired two years ago, Duffy Lyon carved the butter cow sculpture that has occupied a place of honor at the Iowa State Fair. But newly inspired, this summer she crafted 17 pounds of butter into the campaign logo of Democratic presidential aspirant Barack Obama, proudly displaying her creation at an Obama forum on rural issues here.


Barack Obama speaks during an 'Evening in the Park with Barak Obama' on July 3, in Fairfield, Iowa.


“He’s the kind of person who will represent us the best, better than Hillary,” she says. “He’s for people who haven’t got things.” Prominent dairy farmer Joe Lyon, like his wife an active 78-year-old independent who Bush turned into an ardent Democrat, adds, “We’ve got to have a change in Washington. I think it’s been a calamity—war, giveaways to the well-connected. I don’t think we’ve seen anything like it in history. And we’ve just seen the tip of the iceberg. I don’t know how long it will take to straighten out.”

Many Democrats—and a surprising swath of Republicans and independents—think that first-term senator Barack Obama represents the best hope (his constant theme) to turn the country in a new direction. Whether attracted by his inspirational speeches, his fresh face, or his early opposition to the war in Iraq, people respond to Obama’s personal story and what they think he represents for America, as much as to the policies he advocates.

But there are two Obamas running for president—or at least two political personas that voters see. One is the politically progressive Obama, leading in the national polls over rivals such as former Sen. John Edwards to be the left alternative to front-runner Hillary Clinton’s centrist, establishment politics. The other is the post-partisan Obama, who will bring people together and transcend the morass of Washington politics that he is running against.

Both reflect Obama’s political history, but the big question—for both his campaign and his potential presidency—is: How compatible are these two personas? To what extent does striving for post-partisanship conflict with—or complement—progressive political goals?
One Obama, two Obama

Progressives often see Obama’s career as evidence that he is a champion of grassroots democracy, and issues like ethics reform and national health insurance. “People have choices to make in life, and choices give you some insight into what they believe and what their values are,” says Henry Bayer, director of AFSCME District Council 31 in Illinois. “Here’s a guy who had his pick of what he could do, the world was open to him, and he became a community organizer, then went to law school, did civil rights and voter registration work,” before becoming a reliably liberal state senator.

FULL story at link.

[WCGreen]

1. Remember that movie Zelig....

I'm just sayin'...

[Ethelk2044]

2. Obama is what this country needs.