Now it's Just Obama's an Idol

First, it's Obama doesn't have what it takes. 

Then it's he might have what it takes but he doesn't have the experience. Then it's "white guilt." Then it's Obama's just lucky. Now, Obama is just an idol. For some, it's just painful to see a brilliant and wise person who has it going on. He has energy and inspires enthusiasm and he might actually really be the right person for America for right now, just like Obama says.

Those who underestimate Obama, and there are plenty of those folks, just don't get it. But they could if they opened their minds. But that, I suppose, is what they call a "liberal" thing to do. 

Now It's Obama is Just Lucky

When are people going to stop underestimating Obama?

First, it's Obama doesn't have what it takes. Then it's he might have what it takes but he doesn't have the experience. Then it's "white guilt." Now it's he's just lucky.

Perhaps David Broder never heard that luck is when opportunity meets preparation.

WASHINGTON -- It made no sense when Barack Obama left the country on his nine-day overseas tour for some of my fellow columnists to describe it as a high-risk venture.

Foreign leaders, who can read the polls as well as anyone, would go out of their way not to embarrass a man who may, six months from now, be president of the United States.

Obama prepares thoroughly for the big occasions. He is almost always well-briefed, and he was traveling in sharp company -- with Sens. Jack Reed and Chuck Hagel -- so you knew he would be thoroughly ready for these meetings. The chance of a major screw-up was minimal.


And, as millions of Americans who watched the primary campaign learned, Obama is invariably articulate and well-spoken. There would be no verbal gaffes.

So where was the risk? It existed mainly in the minds of some journalists and, perhaps, in the musings of Obama staffers who wanted to hype the journey.

Acknowledging all that, it is still the case that Obama has pulled it off in great style and thereby enhanced his credentials for the Oval Office.

What he could not have guaranteed was the role that luck played in the surrounding events and the cast of supporting players. When, on the first day of the trip, he stepped onto the basketball court at the air base in Kuwait and sent his first three-point shot cleanly through the basket, you knew the gods had decided to favor him.

Reducing Obama to White Guilt

CNN has a story this morning by John Blake that made me furious: "Could an Obama Presidency Hurt Black Americans?"
It says that Obama's black supporters who are counting on Obama to change race relations better sit down.

His presidency may represent fundamental change but that doesn't mean he will initiate such sweeping changes if he's elected.

"Politicians, even the best-intentioned ones, are weather vanes," says Sirota. "If the wind isn't blowing in the right direction, they will perpetuate the status quo," he says.

It will take more than a presidential candidate to change the status quo -- it'll take a movement, Sirota says.

"My concern is that people will think that by simply electing Obama, change will come, whether it's on race or economic justice issues," he says.

"If people believe that, then real change will not happen."

Well, for one it's insulting. Black people see Obama's greatness in addition to his race. They don't see him as the saviour with the big black agenda. They know better than to be that hopeful. White people, Latinos and the rest of us support Obama for who he is and his policies. Not his race. 

The Hillaries could never seem to get past that idea -- Geraldine Ferraro was a good example. They thought the rest of us were voting for Obama because he was black, because we thought he could improve race relations by waving his magic wand. Good grief.

Two, I'm sure black people and anyone other than a white person, know that it ain't going to be that easy to change race relations.  

Racial prejudice is still common, but it's changing. Look at the younger generation. They embrace race for the most part (we're obviously excluding Appalachia). 

Give it another couple of generations, when all the boomers are gone and you'll see much better race relations. It's the way the wind is blowing. 

This is all an effort to reduce Obama, to reduce him to a mirage of white guilt. Nice try CNN. I don't know anyone who thinks Obama is going to end racism. Write about something useful instead of something divisive.

Paul Street, author of the forthcoming book, "Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics," says Obama risks becoming an Oval Office version of talk-show host Oprah Winfrey. She and former Secretary of State Colin Powell are African-American figures whose popularity allows some white Americans to congratulate themselves for not being racist, he says

"They're cited as proof that racism is no longer a significant barrier to black advancement and interracial equality," says Street.

"This isn't new. Go to the 19th century and Southern aristocrats would point to a certain African-American landowner who was doing well to prove that whites are not racist."

Looks like Jesse Jackson is on Obama "white guilt" reduction, too.