Barack in January: When I Stood Up

The night before Barack Obama declared his candidacy, I reserved a domain: www.thinkobama.com. I had already decided that I was going to support his run. Though I wasn't sure how I'd do it, or what I'd have to say, I wanted to stake out a space to do it.

I'd made my mind up in January, and gone public with my commitment via a reply to an email list maintained by a friend. I was responding to comments on Jim Webb's rebuttal to the State of the Union address. This friend and some others were contrasting the tone of his remarks to statements made in brief interviews by Hillary and Barack. The comparison wasn't favorable, and I was moved to share another interpretation -- one that expressed my sense of excitement about Barack and what he could offer to the country.

Many things have happened in the intervening months. I find myself giving life to the URL fueled again by a passionate response to an email concerning Barack. This one came from his campaign and marks a low point for me in how the values he represents have been translated into action.

Since I've decided to offer the entire text of a critical letter that I've written to the campaign, I'm eager to post the text of my January email, as well. It captures another dimension of my passion and enthusiasm. They both come from the same commitment to the vision that Barack Obama has articulated, and I would like them to be understood as part of a continuum of hope and belief.

The text in all its ad hoc imperfection is below. There's still a long road ahead. Let's make sure that we think about each of the steps that we take.

-----Original Message-----
From: Neely, Justin
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 3:36 PM

It sounds like the time has come for me to begin my public advocacy of Barack Obama. I respect your opinion, and for that reason I'm taking up the keyboard on a mission to get you to reconsider your summary dismissal of the man I believe should next lead the country.
Webb gave an outstanding rebuttal, but I don't think we need him drafted for 2008 (we will still need leadership and integrity in the legislature, won't we?). I'm also convinced that he doesn't exceed Obama in the charisma category.

Obama's fifteen minutes are certain to end, but the conclusion of that fifteen minutes for a person in public life does not mean a trip into obscurity. He's been granted a largely uncritical, soft-focus close-up in recent months, because our celebrity-driven culture industry could monetize the unblemished image of a saintly newcomer. But just because the attention he's received may not all have been awarded him based on merit, it in no way means that he does not merit our attention.

He hasn't had to do much to earn the exposure he's been given, but he has had to manage its effects. I don't think there's anything tepid or milquetoast about his approach to politics and policy. He's a dynamic intellectual with a fairly complex personal identity, yet he has been able to maintain a public persona that can withstand the pressures of the volatile conduit that is the corporate-driven fame machine.

A backlash is absolutely inevitable. Not the standard Obama/Osama "confusions," or agenda-driven slanders about radical Islamic education, but the general media's forthcoming exhaustion in seeking positive angles, and the undeniable hunger of media consumers for variety.

The tone of Obama's remarks were appropriate to the level of scrutiny that he's under, and the amount of amplification that anything he utters will automatically receive. He's not calling additional attention to himself, because he already has as many headlines as he can handle.

If he'd taken a similar rhetorical posture to Webb last night, it would have run on the cover of the Times as an attempt at a coup d'etat! It would also have been dissected as a challenge to Hillary, and all seen in the context of 2008 (just look at this http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/24/clinton.obama/index.html).

It's exactly the fact that Webb delivered these remarks that allowed them to be heard for what they were and to have meaning, rather than to become lost in the noise of speculation and connotation. Obama speaks candidly, but last night (I was watching Shields and Brooks on PBS, so missed him on CNN, but caught remarks archived on ABC's website) he chose not to speak provocatively. This moment being what it is, at every turn, in every committee meeting, during each walk down a hallway, he is speaking to Democrats of all stripes, the larger public, and major political donors simultaneously.

He may leave things unsaid, and he must be a shrewd tactician, but he brings a different kind of candor to the table. This media savvy doesn't alienate me, and I am most struck by his ability to engage in conversation in a public forum. It's not simply about the way he talks, but about the way that he listens.

Nothing is more inspiring today than to see a leader eager to listen, and willing to think in public view. I also believe that a much higher than average number of his answers to questions come more from conviction than calculation, albeit political reality is such that the two are often inextricably intertwined. He strikes a balance that to me is ethical and appropriate, and his selectively understated comments arrive in the context of a larger and more challenging message.

Through an unexpected commingling of fame and fate, part of this message has already reached a broad audience, and he's been given a unique opportunity. It's good for me to get your perspective on the wary disenchantment in Democratic ranks, but I feel that it's important to share word that among some serious-minded people I know, there's a palpable sense of possibility and excitement.

I'm spending a lot of time digging into who this man really is, and his identity, and awareness of it, matters a lot to me. It is considered and constructed, complex and diverse, and well-suited to an age in greater need of empathy. No leader is better positioned to communicate by example that race, religion, and national identity are not absolutes, but are nonetheless of great importance to people, and need to be considered in matters of policy with an open mind.

He's bright and talented, and no doubt laden with flaws as yet unimagined, but I want the country to learn more about his particular vision of an issue-focused and tolerant centrism before deciding that his brush with fame should relegate him to the celeb dustbin with past contestants from American Idol.

I could, and suspect that I soon will, write more about this. There are a couple of speeches on his website that I should share with you sometime, but I would appreciate it if you would pass along any part of these comments that you feel appropriate to the larger conversation on which I was cc'd.