Its All About Me

Time for another biased post on Barack Obama...

I couldn't resist posting something about Obama's speech on Tuesday addressing the issue of race in America. You can watch the entire speech by clicking here.

The speech itself, and this great DailyKos analysis piece, got me thinking about some of the reasons why Obama's words seem to have more gravity those of both recent and current presidential contenders.

In the Kos post linked above, Kos describes how Bill Clinton was heralded as savior of the Democratic party for forging the centrist "Third Way" in the 90's. Kos also points out that the Clintons were ultimately poisonous for the party, enabling Rebublican domination of Congressional elections from '94 to '06, not to mention consecutive presidential losses for Democrats in '00 and '04.

I think some Democrats have lingering reservations about the Clintons because, as this campaign has surely showed at various points, the Clintons always seem to be talking about themselves. What I want to explore here is how Obama is somehow able to make his politics very much about everyone else and all about himself at the same time. His recent speech on race is a perfect example. The speech was intensely personal, drawing on his life experiences from being raised by a sometimes-prejudiced white grandmother to attending church in the imperfect and diverse African-American community of Chicago. Yet at the same time as the viewer was drawn into his personal story, he honestly and accurately described the current status and implications of racial division in America, effectively making his remarks about the world in general.

I've seen politicians effectively connect their personal stories to contemporary issues, such as John Edwards this cycle and Bill Clinton in '92. But never have I seen someone with the skill and courage that Obama has shown to simultaneously broaden the discussion and inject so much of himself into such a volatile issue as race. Kudos.