Barack and Hillary

The Boston Globe has just endorsed Barack Obama in the Democratic Primary race. You can’t help hearing about the Obama surge in Iowa and New Hampshire, Oprahpalooza and the nervousness in the Hilary Clinton camp and not wonder how all the hype is going to play out. So much of our political process is played out in these media created mini-dramas. Pundits and reporters often focus on incidents, events, gaffs and embrace the superficial at the expense of a deeper pragmatic analysis. This is an environment that favors someone like a Barack Obama, not that he devoid of the capacity to articulate deeper issues, it’s just that he is so good at delivering speeches that make people feel good. The themes of unity and hope articulated by someone of high intelligence who speaks from the heart is such a radical shift from what we have been subject to during the Bush years. Mr. Obama's words and delivery represent a powerful elixir to what has pained us these past seven years. It’s unlikely we will ever see Mr. Obama claiming to be the “decider” or making us cringe with his mangling the English language. No, Mr. Obama knows how to communicated ideas and the themes he chooses are lofty, inspiring and filled with hope.

This is good...but not enough. It makes us feel good to see someone like Barack Obama running for president, it speaks to what is right about America. This is good....but not enough. Politics is a dirty business. If you are going to do business in Washington you are going to get dirty. You are going to have to exercise power, coercion, and compromise. You are going to have to do some things that you will not be proud of. In Washington you are always doing cost benefit analysis, sometimes selling out one group with a worthy agenda, for the greater good, for the ability to live to fight another day, for the chance to make a difference on another issue, prevail in another battle. You can’t live in that environment without it taking its toll. Many have come to Washington with the idealism and vision of a Barack Obama and soon found themselves paralyzed by the forces of stagnation, self-interest and the status quo. Does that mean that Barack Obama should not be President? No, it means he needs time to temper his idealism with an extended lesson in practical politics if he is going to have a shot at bringing to fruition his transforming agenda.

We are living in a very dangerous time. The damage George Bush and his allies have done to this country will take generations to mend. We need leaders like Barack Obama honing their skills, learning the back room ways of Washington, developing the deep contacts and extended “favor banks” that will be required to effect meaningful change in the years ahead. What I like about Hillary Clinton is that she, like Mr. Obama, is driven by a sense of idealism that is rooted in the belief that when we act collectively, we can improve the lives of others and through this our own. She has come face to face with the demons of entrenchment, with the forces that will resist change at any cost because they profit so richly from the status quo. She has wrestled with her own sense of righteousness that often impairs those with high ideals. She has been tempered by failure, loss, the awakening confrontation with her own fallibility and has discovered, at great cost, that humility almost always trumps hubris and that idealism without consensus (however one arrives it) will not change the world.

Hillary Clinton survived eight years in Washington. It almost destroyed her marriage, her family and her reputation, but she survived. She preserved her marriage and raised a well adjusted daughter in an extremely challenging environment. If she accomplished nothing else, this alone would demand our respect. Where some may have exited from the process to seek renewal in other endeavors, she sought renewal by staying committed to the ideals she spent a lifetime advocating. She has done so with class, dignity and effectiveness. She has honed her skills, learned how to get things done in the halls of the Senate. It’s not a question of paying dues, it’s a question of having demonstrated the resilience to get knocked down, pick herself up, dust herself off, and keep on fighting. Her delivery may sometimes be off, her message sometimes a bit shrill, but the idea that the choices our government makes can make a huge difference in the lives of all it’s citizens is one that deserves an advocate with the experience and resilience of a Hilary Clinton.