Young Boy You Done Me Bad, So I Went and Did You Wrong

Joey had a great post yesterday about the great hype surrounding the "Will He or Won't He?" questions with Senator Barack Obama's possible run for President in 2008.

As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, I discovered the surprising world of podcasts available at the iTunes Music store, and lo and behold, Obama is the only politician that I have found with a podcast. As I have downloaded and listened to his keynote speech at the Sojourner's Call to Renewal, an interview he did with Tim Russert, and some of his thoughts on a responsible approach to rising energy costs, I am impressed with the depth of his intellect and his palpable authenticity.

The mere fact that he is the only U.S. Senator with a podcast shows that he is attuned to the rhythms of a younger generation. I think that he has the ability to energize young people and to perhaps restore the faith of the younger generations in the nobility of public service, but I say all of that with this caveat. He needs more time.

What I think we really need in America in almost everything is substance over style. I believe Obama has the substance and style to potentially be a great leader in this country, but he needs more time to develop his body of work and to learn how to navigate the treacherous waters of Washington. I still maintain that the likely Democratic nominees for President in 2012 are Obama and Eliot Spitzer, the likely future Governor of New York.

Barack, your time will come, I just don't think it's right now (or two years from now to be exact).