David Sirota on Obama: "I Want to Believe"

I am getting ready to head out to the Obama event in Ames today. I saw this article called "I Want to Believe" posted by David Sirota that discusses a lot of the same feelings that I have towards Obama. Sirota writes...

In my time studying his(Obama's) career, it became obvious that this is a person who wants to do the right thing and has genuinely strong convictions. But he also seems to believe that the reason our country has such challenges is because all sides of every issue have not come together in unity (I’ve gone back and forth wondering whether this is a sincere belief or merely a justification for overly cautious behavior, but I’m not a psychoanalyst, so I have no idea).

The problem with this outlook is that it fundamentally misunderstands why we are at this moment in history. Forty-five million Americans are uninsured, and millions more underinsured not because low-income health advocates and the insurance industry haven’t sat down together and sung Kumbaya. It’s because, unlike every other industrialized country in the world, we have a government that has been bribed into allowing the insurance industry to profiteer off sick people. Our global warming problem did not happen because environmentalists and the auto industry refused to hug each other. It happened because the auto industry has bought off enough politicians to make sure we don’t increase fuel efficiency standards.

Put another way, there is no “third way” or “consensus” way out of many of our most pressing problems, as Obama seems to believe. Why? Because many of our most pressing problems are zero-sum: someone is benefiting from the status quo, and to change the status quo means someone may lose something. And if you don’t believe me, just take a quick look at history.

Sirota concludes by saying...

Ultimately, Obama will have to make a very important decision - one that none of the pundits will ever see, much less understand. He will have to decide whether he wants to offer up poll-tested platitudes about nebulous “hope” and run for President, or whether he wants to really challenge the status quo and actually BE ELECTED President. And as I said at the beginning, I want to believe he will make the right choice.

I want to believe, too. The moment I heard Obama gave his speech at the 2004 convention, I knew that he had a bright future. This will be my first time hearing Obama in person, so I am hoping I come away feeling that Obama is authentic and honest and not just another politician trying to run to the center and away from their beliefs.

Check back this afternoon for a writeup on the event in Ames. In the meantime, check out John Deeth, who wrote about Obama's stop in Cedar Rapids yesterday.