Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

COLUMN: Candidate will be a fresh voice by serving as the 'imperfect vessel'
By Theodore Wolff
Iowa State Daily (Iowa State U.)
02/15/2007

(U-WIRE) AMES, Iowa — OK, it's early. The 2008 elections are more than a year away, the new year is hardly a month old and we've barely washed our hands of the 2006 elections. So why are we already wading up to our knees in presidential hoopla? Barack Obama visited Sunday, that's why - and this guy has "it."

What is "it"? Well, he's got the name.

My first thought upon seeing the pep rally at Hilton Coliseum on Sunday was that his marketing department has an easy job. There's no shortage of catchy slogans that can be attached to this man's name.

There's "Obama Rama," as one sign displayed. "Ba-Rack the Vote," another one said. There's always "Obamania" and his followers the "Obamaniacs." MySpace is even being borrowed from with "ObamaSpace." And if marketing decides to save money and cut back on spending there's "'08ama." Just combine the '08 with Obama and signify Obama in a '08. I hear Emeril is even going to start saying "Bam-a!"

But who is Obama really? According to his fellow speakers on Sunday, he is a "good and decent man" and the "smartest person to go to Harvard law school in the past 25 years," although he contests that last description by saying his wife is. So he's a "family man" and "humble" as well - a "nice guy."

He is a man "of the people" and "for the people," evidenced Sunday as he entered the speaking stage through the crowd without a tie. He's someone who relates to the "common people."

He is what I would call at this point an "adjectival candidate," a candidate known more for the many descriptions of his character than for his stances, which include being against the Iraq war from the beginning and being for universal health care. That's who Obama is.

But is there any substance to him, or is he just seasoning without the main course?

After hearing him speak Sunday, I can say he is much more than a pinch of oregano or a dash of paprika.

Speaking to all those in attendance, Obama channeled the spirits of two fabled icons in American history: Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. He spoke of unity and justice, just as those two did.

The big question at this point is, Can Obama do more than just channel the legends of old? Some may say his speech Sunday offered ideas but no solutions. Lincoln led slaves to freedom. King led the country toward civil rights. How will Obama lead? The most intriguing and exciting answer he gave was that he wouldn't.

When quoting King about how the "arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice," it was Obama who said it will be we, the many people of America, who will do the bending. In a show of unity and inclusion, Obama removed himself from the discussion of leading the country and involved the American population in pursuit of justice.

When decision time for universal health care arrives, it will be we who decide whether we accept it. When time arrives to decide on alternative fuels, homegrown fuels relevant to Iowa, it will be we who make that decision. And when election time arrives in 2008 it will be we who decide if Barack Obama will be an "imperfect vessel for [our] hopes and dreams."

Obama may be "of the people" and "for the people," but - channeling Lincoln again - he seeks most importantly to be "by the people."

Where does that leave us, then? It is, again, admittedly too early to tell whether Obama is a worthy president, to tell whether he will follow through on his promises and exactly how those promises will be backed up. After all, he "lacks experience," as we hear.

He's got a running start, though. Now it will be up to us to make sure he follows through on his promises. Here's to more than a year on thinking how to. You may now groan at the madness of all that time. Or is it "Obamadness"?

Theodore Wolff is a senior in technical communication from Newell.

[ Back to Student Voices ]