All the Figures I Used to See

It's official. Barack Obama is running for President in 2008. I know what you're thinking, I also thought he had made the official announcement weeks ago, but this morning was the formal announcement. The article that I have linked contains passages detailing the comparisions that Obama is receiving to both John and Bobby Kennedy, but it also contains the oft-repeated chorus that he simply does not have the requisite experience that Americans look for in a presidential candidate.

JFK was killed 21 years before I was born. Bobby Kennedy was killed 16 years before my birth. Because of those facts, I'm really not sure how to gauge the comparisions that I have heard recently between Senator Obama and the Kennedy brothers. It seems that the comparisions frequently focus on the idea that all three men represented the idea of change and an ideal that politics can be something different than what most people perceive it to be.

I do know this: most people of my generation hate politics. They hate it because it seems to be the province of people who are short-sighted and petty. The question of what is good for America has been replaced with the question of what is good for my party? It seems that a nation filled with politicians outfitted with such partisan blinders is a nation that is quickly losing its focus. I'm not sure how Senator Obama's campaign is going to evolve, but one thing seems clear: He may be the figure that draws many members of my generation back into politics.

Does this mean he is going to win or even that he is the best candidate? Maybe not. On the Republican side of the ballot, there are potential candidates such as John McCain, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani, and others who are good leaders in their own right. It just seems that whomever wins in 2008, whether it is a Democrat or Republican, has a tough task ahead of them. It has nothing to do with the economy. That's going great. Hopefully by that point we will also be out of Iraq.

The real challenge that I see for the person who moves into the White House in 2008 is learning how to help Americans find what unites us instead of what divides us. It is very easy to always fall into the blue/red state rhetoric and to look at figures like Rush Limbaugh and Al Franken who love to demonize the opposition, but is that what makes this a great country? Who can rise above that? Who can bring a message of unity to a nation that seems increasingly fractured? Whomever it is, that's who I am voting for in 2008.