Barak Obama

Way back when Barak Obama was just another name on the list of democratic candidates who would inevitably lose out to Hillary Clinton in her waltz to the nomination and the White House, I was speaking to some family members and told them in no uncertain terms that I believed Obama would be president of the United States.  Maybe not in 2008.  Maybe not in 2012.  But eventually, I assured them, he would be president of the United States.  

Barak Obama is important.  Before you christen me Captian Obvious, let me say that the reasons I have in mind are in addition to those routinely cited.  Of course it's important that he's the first african-american to receive a major party's nomination.  The import of that little fact can scarcely be overstated.  But in my opinion, and just as important in the long run, is that Obama is the first post-something-or-other candidate.  He's not an "either/or" candidate.  He's a "both/and" candidate.  He is the first presidential candidate who understands the nation's emerging generations and cultures well enough to communicate sincerely in their own categories without the condescension which previously has been so transparent to me in other candidates.  (Remember Clinton's saxaphone performance on the Arsenio Hall Show? How about John Kerry's windsurfing photo?)  When it comes to his apprehension of the mindset and worldview of most of the men and women of my generation and younger, Obama gets it.  

The reason Barak Obama is important is because he is what our nation is rapidly becoming.  He is progressive.  He is multi-racial.  He is urban.  His background includes a faith other than Christianity.  His thinking is more global/local than nationally oriented.  He is environmentally concerned.  He has a charisma which transcends party affiliation in a time when my generation is suspicious of party alignment in general.  Just recall the enthusiasm he was greeted with in his recent trip to Europe.  It's this simple:  Europe is basically 40 years ahead of us philosophically and culturally.  Where they are now, the US will soon be (for better or for worse).  Europe is our future.  And the future loves Barak Obama.  Some of the aspects of Obama's candidacy which are most unique today will tomorrow be the expected norm for American politicians of virtually every stripe.  And then explaining the significance of Barak Obama to our grandkids will be like trying to explain to your nephew why Jimi Hendrix is important even though though now all the metal bands' guitarists sound like hendrix.  That's just the point...  When Hendrix played, only Hendrix sounded like Hendrix.  And now everybody plays to sound like Hendrix!   

I might still turn out to be wrong.  Maybe Obama will never be our president.  Maybe time will reveal him to be all words and little substance.  Heck, I don't know.  But I do know that when I first read the ideas of Barak Obama (and this was before I heard him speak) I knew instantly that this guy was saying things differently.  I knew he was a game-changer.  I often wonder what it would have been like to have heard Hendrix before having become acquainted with the myriad of rock bands who were so heavily influenced by him.  I wonder if I would have known that the guy was about to transcend the art... 

Even if you don't like Hendrix, you've got to appreciate his importance in the pantheon of rock and roll guitar gods.  He changed everything.  That's why Barak Obama is important.  Or eventually will be.