Mr. Obama and the Political Machine

The New York Times has run two long articles on Barack Obama's rise to national prominence. The first (printed in late July) details his accomplishments in the Illinois State Senate, while the second (from the September 9th issue) tells the story of how Mr. Obama lost his bid for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1999. Both are well worth reading.

What sorts of things did Mr. Obama accomplish during his time as a state senator? His first major achievement was in crafting campaign finance reform laws for Illinois's politicians. Later on, he pushed for legislation that would help combat racial profiling. Both of these tasks required him to negotiate agreements between antagonistic parties. In the words of the Times, "he turned out to be practical and shrewd, a politician capable of playing hardball to win election . . . a legislator with a sharp eye for an opportunity, a strategist willing to compromise to accomplish things.

Yet, throughout the story, Mr. Obama's ambition is ever present. Just a few years after his election to a state office, he tried to beat incumbent U.S. Representative Bobby Rush in a primary race. It was a strange race to enter; Rush had a high approval rating and no particular weaknesses on major issues.

Mr. Obama was a 38-year-old state senator and University of Chicago lecturer, unknown in much of Mr. Rush’s Congressional district. He lived in its most rarefied neighborhood, Hyde Park. He was taking on a local legend, a former alderman and four-term incumbent who had given voters no obvious reason to displace him.

Mr. Rush’s name recognition started off at 90 percent, Mr. Obama’s at 11. Then Mr. Rush’s son was murdered, leading Mr. Obama to put his campaign on hold. Later, while vacationing in Hawaii with his family, he missed a high-profile vote in the Legislature and was pilloried. (One Chicago Tribune editorial began, “What a bunch of gutless sheep.”) Then President Clinton endorsed Mr. Rush.

As might be expected, Barack Obama lost this one badly. But he gained valuable experience, and found himself positioned for a jump to the U.S. Senate soon afterwards.

Mr. Obama is smart, gutsy, and ambitious. He's extremely articulate, and has shown his ability to compromise when necessary. If he doesn't get the Democratic nomination this year, I'm sure that it will be in his future. Out of the whole field of Presidential hopefuls, I believe that he would be the most impressive on the world stage.

It's the ambition that worries me. When Mr. Obama took office in 2004, I had high hopes that he would become a leader in the Democratic Party. I thought it was fitting that Tom Daschle was out and Barack Obama was in. At the time, I believed that the Democrats had failed in their duty as an opposition party by voting for things first and complaining about them later. (At the time, I was reading some books about Victorian-era English statesmen, so I suppose my standards were a bit high.) I wanted Mr. Obama to rejuvenate the opposition party on a principled basis.

In many ways, he's tried to do just that. Still, he's been cultivating his image the whole time. I know that's how the system works, but my Frank Capra dreams don't die easily. The idealist in me still wants to believe that Mr. Obama hasn't spent the last four years carefully positioning himself for a Presidential run. Of course, political shrewdness does not entail bad leadership. I suppose that I am waiting for Mr. Obama to do something unexpected. I doubt that a Presidential candidate can get away with bucking the machine in this day and age, but I'd still like to see it happen.

I realize that I've neglected to discuss any of the substantial political issues here. Perhaps I'll get to that in a future date. But as a young politician, Mr. Obama must lean more on his leadership (dare I say - statesmanship?) than most of the other candidates. I'm watching him carefully; I've not yet made up my mind.