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Tuesday, 12 December 2006 18:45 |
 | | Roland Martin |
CHICAGO ÇƒÓ As Illinoisë Democratic junior senator travels the nation, raising large sums of money for his party while seriously pondering a presidential run, throngs of people view Barack Obama as the messiah, rising up to rescue the nation from its partisan political battles.
Pundits are at a loss to explain why America has latched onto Obama the way it has over the last two years. For a man with a thin record in the U.S. Senate ÇƒÓ again, heës only been there for one-third of his six-year term ÇƒÓ he is being greeted in cities and towns across the nation like a seasoned politician who has come of age on the national stage.
"The
man with the funny name" ÇƒÓ a line he likes to use in speeches ÇƒÓ is
being called a rock star, rivaling ÇƒÓ and potentially trumping ÇƒÓ former
President Bill Clinton and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton
(D-N.Y.) ÇƒÓ for the affections of his party.
While watching
this magnificent courtship play out, it must be noted ÇƒÓ without a sense
of throwing water on this burning hot love affair ÇƒÓ that Obama is just
one man who is trying his best to make a difference.
When CNN anchor
Don Lemon and reporter Bill Schneider interviewed me recently, both
repeatedly pressed me on what the deal is with Americaës reaction to
Obama. People are waiting in long lines just to get him to sign their
book; they reach out to him with affection when he visits town. Heck,
even the apolitical Oprah Winfrey gushes over him, hoping that he will
make that leap and run for president.
So whatës the
big deal? Frankly, it boils down to this generation longing for a
politician in the mold of John and Bobby Kennedy, two individuals who
captured America at its core, providing a tremendous amount of spirit
and positive feelings during a turbulent period.
The major
dilemma facing todayës generation is that we have never had someone ǃÓ
or something ÇƒÓ come along that allowed us to pour our hearts, mind and
soul into. We long for a relationship with a person like the previous
generation had with the Kennedys, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
or the Civil Rights Movement. What do we believe in? What have we
invested ourselves in?
While everyone
insists that we are a divided nation of red and blue states, that is
simply sophomoric. There are a tremendous number of people who choose
not to fall into an ideological lineup. We desire not to see attacks on
candidates but dialogues. Instead of trashing someone elseës political
plans, there really is a willingness to want to flesh them out over
coffee and arrive at a logical conclusion. The partisan bickering has
turned so nasty that people have abandoned the political process.
The sense that people are giving is Obama isnët like the rest; that he could restore dignity and civility to the nation.
Anyone who has
heard Obama will tell you that he canët light up an audience like a
southern preacher. When he talks, heës thoughtful and careful,
seemingly searching for a comfort zone in his positions that is hard to
establish in these highly partisan times.
Itës ironic that
as Obama rises to new heights, Emilio Estevezës movie, "Bobby," is
playing on movie screens nationwide. It tells the story of the death of
the presidential candidate from the vantage point of individuals who
were impacted by his assassination.
We must not lose
sight of the fact that this is a movie based on the unrealized dream of
a man who was on the verge of winning the Democratic nomination, and
going on to become president. Adults across the country continue to
assert that had Bobby not been killed, America today would be much
different. The Vietnam War would have ended sooner; America would have
truly dealt with the horrors of poverty; we would be healed of the
racial strife that has been at the core of the country since its
founding; and every other ill would have been solved.
It really is an
unrealistic expectation that Bobby Kennedy would have been able to do
all of that. His brother didnët before he was assassinated in 1963. Yet
the feeling persists that somehow this is the guy who can complete what
those two ÇƒÓ along with King and so many other warriors of yesteryear
couldnët do: unite a nation.
Iëm already on
the record as saying Obama wonët run for president in 2008. Then again,
he may surprise me and choose to toss his name in the hat. If he does,
that connection people feel for him will only be heightened. And if he
doesnët, many of us will be let down, afraid that we will go through
this life missing out on the chance to trust again.
ï
Roland S. Martin, editor of The Chicago Defender newspaper, is author of "Speak, Brother! A Black Manës View of America."
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