| | Issue #19.11 :: 10/09/2007 - 10/15/2007 | Comparing Obama, Reagan
I’m convinced that he’s energizing voters in a way that few others have.
| BY TOM GRANT
| AUGUSTA, GA - After watching U.S. Senator Barack Obama fill a high-school gymnasium with cheering supporters on Saturday, I’m convinced that he’s energizing voters in a way that few others have.
One young man, who is undoubtedly too young to remember for himself, compared Obama to President John F. Kennedy. Personally, I see in Obama bits of another great candidate of the past.
In truth, I see him as more like Ronald Reagan, although on the opposite side of the political spectrum. Reagan was incredibly charismatic, too. He understood the value of image. Long after his presidency, the image of Reagan is still seen by many as the epitome of conservatism. Pictured in a cowboy hat, he’s the independent Western thinker who stood tall and strong, who believed in individual rights and small government.
Regardless of whether his actions as president matched the image he presented, Reagan became an icon for the political right. When I covered the primary in New Hampshire in 1988, seeing the likes of George Bush and Paul Simon tromp through the snow at the end of Reagan’s term, it was plainly apparent that no one could motivate voters like the actor from California.
As I watched Obama, the one comparison on the left that came to mind — other than JFK, of course — was Howard Dean. Four years ago, I watched as groups of young activists came together to support Dean. They were earnest and hard working. They helped Dean grab the early lead. And Obama, too, has a corps of young, earnest supporters.
But Dean wasn’t someone who could hold the focus of that fervor. When I saw him speak in a town hall meeting much like Obama handled in Aiken, Dean said the right words, but was much less than inspiring.
As I watched Obama and captured his speech on video, I noticed something I’ve seen in other people during my years in television. The TV camera really loves him.
Obama always seems to be engaging people. When he’s not touching them with his hands or hugging them or kissing their babies (yes, he really does), he’s looking them right in the eye. He connects.
Yes, he connects with blacks first. As Cher Best of Kiss 96.3 FM said after watching Obama speak, they’re energized by the fact he could become the first African-American president.
“As an African-American woman, I have never seen that happen, so of course we would be excited to see that. And of course we would be the first ones to come and see Barack Obama. So I would imagine that is why you saw the majority of African-Americans because this would be a person who looks like us who possibly could be the next President of the United States,” Best said.
But that’s actually reminiscent of 1960, when Kennedy had to overcome a religious bias to be elected the first Catholic president.
Ultimately, however, all candidacies have to stand on their messages, as did Kennedy, and, now, Obama. That may be what’s so refreshing about the senator from Illinois.
In Aiken, Obama campaigned strongly against the war in Iraq, a war that even many conservatives wish the United States had not become mired in. Obama emphasized that, unlike other candidates, he has been opposed to the war from the beginning. His plan calls for pulling the troops back one or two brigades a month, and bringing them all home by the end of 2008.
Obama talked of his health-care plan, one that would create a national health insurance program with affordable coverage similar to that available to members of Congress. He talked about raising the minimum wage every year so that people who work full-time won’t live in poverty.
In response to questions from the audience, he proposed higher salaries for teachers and increasing the value of grants to college students. He proposed improving legal immigration laws while reducing incentives to those who illegally enter the country. He talked honestly about the importance of strong families and improving education.
Yes, Obama is an unabashed liberal. But that didn’t stop him from saying that the United States needs to hunt down terrorists and kill them. That didn’t stop him from honoring veterans of all wars, including the war in Iraq.
There is still plenty of time for Obama’s campaign to implode, as we’ve seen in the past with other Democratic candidates such as Dean, Edmund Muskie and Gary Hart. And without doubt, Obama’s opponents are working to try to bring that about.
I expect that some will suggest that Obama’s charisma extends only to black voters. In truth, the crowd at South Aiken High School on Saturday reminded me of the following at James Brown’s memorial service a year ago. The gym was full. By my count, there were about 2,000 people there, though others say only 1,400. About 70 percent of the audience was African-American.
Yet a better comparison might be to consider the crowds that appeared for other candidates in Aiken. That roomful of people who saw Mitt Romney stop in Aiken would have been dwarfed by the number of Obama’s supporters — even if you counted only the whites. Rudy Giuliani drew 300 to a campaign stop in Aiken, and by my estimates Obama still had more whites in the audience.
As more people hear him, I expect that support to grow. I know that will frighten some people. He’s not the kind of candidate who fits the boring, middle-of-the-road standard that we’ve come to expect from Democrats.
But I remember those days in 1980 when my friends moaned the coming of Reagan. They feared he would change their world. And they could see that he had the charisma to make it happen.
I think Obama has it, too.
Correction: In the Metro Spirit Sept. 27 issue, in the article entitled “County sinks $125,000 into ramps,” due to misinformation from a county official, the paper erroneously reported that ZEL Engineering designed the failed fishing boat ramps at Columbia County’s Wildwood Park. The county now reports that ZEL Engineering merely recommended the ramp extensions. ZEL says a subsequent project caused the ramps’ failure, and the company denies any involvement. | |
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