Senator Obama

I voted for Barack Hussein Obama for Senator from Illinois. I would like to vote for him for President of the United States.

At some time in the idealized past, perhaps during the FDR years when “dollar a year” men were the rule in government, elected officials ran out of a sense of altruism. I am sure that such people exist today, and they may well be in the majority in political circles. It may well be that CNN airs only negative sound bites and focuses only on conflict rather than the true patriots in public office who work hard to improve life in the United States -- rather than to line their pockets.

I would like to think that’s true.

And I would like to believe that Candidate for President and Illinois’ favorite son Barack Obama is just such a virtuous politician. I don’t care whether Obama is white enough or black enough to win. I like his charisma. And I would hope that he is competent enough to be president even though he lacks experience. Lacking experience seems to be a strike against him, certainly, but it worked for George W. Bush, who spun himself as “a Washington Outsider.” On the other hand, Bush’s lack of competence, his smugness at his lack of scholarship, his blind trust in the antediluvian neo-cons he surrounded himself with, and his rigidity all work against him.

Donors with big bucks have put their trust in Senator Obama. I don’t know whether that means he will have the financial means to run a thoughtful campaign and end up a thoughtful president, or whether he will merely be struggling to escape from donors’ pockets.

Lacking experience need not be a problem. Sen. Obama has a year and a half before the election to gain experience. Experience in statesmanship, Experience in political (in the best sense of the word) give and take, Experience in legislation that works for the American citizenry rather than Democrats or Republicans. The opportunity to become a great senator is at his door step. All he has to do is work in the Senate instead of spending his time campaigning and fund-raising. He could well start by introducing legislation that has been ignored somehow in the political back stabbing that is characteristic of politics today.

Here are a five issues he could address that I pulled off the top of my head.
• Veterans’ health issues. The diminishing budgets for Veterans since President Bush took office are immoral, scandalous, obscene. Maneuvering the Veterans’ health system should not be an obstacle course for our aging veterans or for those newly returned from Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Universal Health Care, including mental health care (consider Virginia Tech). Too many people in these United States do not have health insurance. Too many of these too many people are children. When Bill Clinton first took office, Hillary tried to spearhead this issue and was shot down. The health insurance lobby and the pharmaceutical manufacturing lobby may well scream and cry and withdraw their funding of Sen. Obama’s campaign, but this is an issue that affects us all in one way or another, even if it means our premiums are high already because those of us who have insurance end up subsidizing those who do not.
• A carefully thought-out plan for withdrawing from Iraq that has the least consequences on the Iraqi people and the fewest casualties for American and United Nations (are there any left in Iraq?) troops. Maybe even armoring (you can verb anything) the troops already there until they withdraw.
• Revamping of FEMA so that it works for those who need help after disasters instead of lining the pockets of Bush cronies (Heckuva job, Brownie).
• A considered plan, in conjunction with both state and local authorities, for New Orleans. I don’t know whether that means re-locating the citizenry, building a new New Orleans on higher ground, installing levees that actually protect the existing city, or something totally innovative.

Senator Obama has a wonderful chance to gain experience and do well by the American people at the same time. Perhaps becoming a great senator will spoil his chances of becoming president, at least in 2008.

On the other hand, being a great senator isn’t a bad calling.