Obama, I Just Met A Guy Name Obama

I never understood why so many people drank the Kool-Aid and hopped on the Obama bandwagon. I remember a great piece Mara Liasson did on NPR in December of 2006 about people who wanted to draft Obama into the Presidential race. Nina Totenberg sang a song called “Obama” to the tune of “Maria” from Westside Story. Sure I liked the guy but I didn’t get what made him so different than everyone else.

Last night, in a middle school gymnasium on the south side of Des Moines, I got to experience the magic that is Barack Obama.

One reporter called the event “overwhelming.” A caucus-goer said it was “awesome.” Someone else said it was “simply indescribable.” I think they all got it right. The room was positively electric. Over 900 people clamored into the huge space leaving very little room to move let alone escape the force field of the Senator.

He’s passionate and poised and while Bill Clinton can charm your socks off, Barack Obama can inspire you to fly. Hope is that intoxicating.

In his speech he paints a picture of the perfect Washington where lobbyists are a thing of the past, blue and red are purple, and everyone has free parking (okay, maybe he didn’t go that far but he did tell me to hope for the impossible). Behind him was a banner that read “Change We Can Believe In” and I have to admit that his argument is compelling -- that the person best equipped to bring about change in a broken system shouldn’t be the master of that system.

I don’t think its fair to call Barack Obama a Democratic rockstar. A rockstar’s music only appeals to people that like that genre while Obama has the potential to inspire every Democratic voter. But there is a reason why it’s potential.

Obama is magical and inspiring when he has the opportunity to use his incredible “change” and “hope” rhetoric (remember “The Audacity of Hope” speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention?) but in debates and on talk shows when moderators demand tight answers, Obama tends to flounder a bit. He’s very intelligent, has great judgment and insight, but unlike Hillary and Edwards who are experts at the quick response, Obama has the habit of uhing and uming while he formulates his answer.

In Iowa, where most caucus goers will have seen the candidate they are supporting, Obama and his magic are going to do quite well. However, in larger states where retail politics is a fantasy, the hope machine may not work on those who are motivated by impressive resumes rather than impressive rhetoric.

He may joke that he’s a “hope-monger” but hope works for him. Everyone wants to feel that anything is possible. And in Iowa, Barack Obama is very possible.