Barack Obama in This Improbable Quest, by John Wilson
On Principles & Values:
First major politician of the post-Baby Boom generation
Obama says he looks at “some issues differently as a consequence of being of a slightly different generation,” but there is no strong generational identity in the wake of the boomers, and what Obama calls for is not so much a repudiation of the 1960s
generation as a fulfillment of some of its ideals.Obama suggested he may have “a particular ability to bring the country together around a pragmatic, commonsense agenda for change that probably has a generational element to it as well.
America is ready for new challenges. This is our time. A new generation is prepared to lead.“ He promised a new kind of politics instead of the ”24-hour, slash-and-burn, negative-ad bickering, small-minded politics that doesn’t move us forward.“
As the
first major politician of the post-baby boomer era, Obama appeals to Gen-Xers who have lived in the shadow of baby boomers and have faced the accusation that those who grew up in the 1970s & early 1980s were self-centered and indifferent to social causes
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p. 2
Oct 30, 2007
On Welfare & Poverty:
1980s: Director of the Developing Communities Project
The time Obama spent as a community organizer had a profound impact on his approach to politics. He was the director of the Developing Communities Project in the mid-1980s, spending 4 years organizing African-American neighborhoods on Chicago’s South
Side. Obama recalled being told, “I just cannot understand why a bright young man like you would go to college, get that degree and become a community organizer.” He said, “It needs to be done, and not enough folks are doing it.”Obama considers his
work on political empowerment, economic development, & grassroots community organizing to be the “best education” he has received. He noted, “Organizing teaches as nothing else does the beauty & strength of everyday people.”
Obama learned that “ordinar
citizens are taught that decisions are made based on the public interest or grant principles, when in fact, what really moves things is money and votes and power.” This was his first lesson that fighting cynicism was a first step in political change.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p. 2-3
Oct 30, 2007
On Principles & Values:
Community politics: merges Alinsky & political activism
Obama was influenced by Saul Alinsky. In his book, Rules for Radicals, Alinsky preached the idea of “agitation,” which meant “challenging people to scrape away habit.” But unlike Alinsky, who abandoned electoral politics in favor of community organizing,
Obama realized the potential of politics to change people’s lives on a mass scale.Obama’s vision of leadership is a merger between political activism and the community organizing. One might call it “community politics.”
Community politics differs from community service, in which the more privileged members of society volunteer to help the poorer. As noble as that may be, it doesn’t create the kind of political empowerment sought by Obama.
Instead, community politics aims to transform politics using the techniques of community organizing. Obama’s community organizing approach is to communicate with voters, listen to their suggestions, and convince them to buy in to a set of proposals.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p. 4
Oct 30, 2007
On Government Reform:
Public submits policy ideas on Obama’s “My Policy” website
What could community politics look like under an Obama presidency? Perhaps it might be a national day of neighborhood meetings: designating some Saturday as a meeting day for neighbors to get together, discuss the key problems in their community,
and identify what they want to be done in order to change their society. Perhaps it could be a series of national town meetings available live online and via public TV on specific topics, designed to bring together policy experts, government officials,
and the public. Perhaps it could be a national suggestion box, where Obama encouraged emails offering the best ideas for improving society, such as the “My Policy” section of
Obama’s website urging anyone to submit policy proposals to him. Perhaps it could be advice and information for people who want to run for public offices, such as a database searchable by location of available posts.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p. 5
Oct 30, 2007
On Drugs:
Not first candidate to use drugs, but first honest about it
One issue that exposed the disconnect between Obama’s appeal & the conventional wisdom of an older generation is his drug use. The Washington Post focused on his use of drugs as a teen that he reveals in his book, Dreams from My Father: “Pot had helped,
and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack though.”Obama’s honesty in addressing the issue reflects a generational change in politics. Most voters no longer care about youthful drug use; they’re worried about having an honest
person in the White House. In 1992, Bill Clinton answered a question about his drug use by saying he had tried marijuana, but “didn’t inhale.” When asked, “Did you inhale?” Obama replied, “That was the point.” Obama was making fun of old-style politician
who thought they could fool the voters.
Obama is almost certainly isn’t the first person to use cocaine and then run for president. But he is the first presidential candidate honest enough to talk about the troubles of his youth.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p. 12-13
Oct 30, 2007
On Technology:
Organizes campaign events via MySpace.com and FaceBook.com
Obama’s campaign has generated far more interest on social networking sites than any other politician. Obama’s MySpace page reached 160,000 friends. An Obama Facebook page had over 200,000 supporters in 2 weeks. Joe Trippi, Howard Dean’s Internet campaig
manager, observed, “It took our campaign 6 months to get 139,000 people on an email list. It took one Facebook group barely a month to get to 200,000. That’s astronomical.”Obama drew thousands to a university rally organized online by students using
Facebook. Obama hadn’t even met the student organizers until he arrived at the event. By March 1, 2007, just a few weeks after Obama began his campaign, his website My.BarackObama.com attracted 3,306 grassroots volunteer groups, 4,416 personal fundraisin
pages, 6,706 blogs, and 38,799 people with individual profiles building networks to support Obama.
This new age of decentralized politics takes much of the power out of the hands of political consultants and into the grasp of individuals.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p. 14-15
Oct 30, 2007
On Principles & Values:
Registered 150,000 young Chicago area black voters in 1992
One characteristic of this new generation is a commitment to electoral politics. In 2004, 47% of 18 to 24-year olds voted, compared to only 36% in 2000.
This increase of nearly one-third was far higher than the overall increase in voting rates from 60% to 64%.Obama has already brought in a new generation of voters. He led a movement in
Chicago in 1992 that registered 150,000 new voters--mostly African Americans--and helped Carol Moseley Braun narrowly win an election to become the first black woman elected to the Senate.
Obama’s appeal to voters disenchanted with conventional politics could bring many new voters into the political process.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p. 16
Oct 30, 2007
On Principles & Values:
Criticizes voter cynicism from decades of disappointment
At a DNC meeting, Obama said, “our rivals won’t be one another, and I would assert it won’t even be the other party. It’s going to be cynicism that we’re fighting against. It’s the cynicism that’s borne from decades of disappointment, amplified by talk
radio and 24-hour news cycles, reinforced by the relentless pounding of negative ads that have become the staple of modern politics. It’s a cynicism that asks us to believe that our opponents are never just wrong; but they’re bad; that our motives in
politics can never be pure, that they’re only driven by power and by greed; that the challenges we face today aren’t just daunting, but they’re impossible.“According to Obama, ”With such cynicism, government doesn’t become a force of good,
a means of giving people the opportunity to lead better lives; it just becomes an obstacle for people to get rid of. Too often, this cynicism makes us afraid to say what we believe.“
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p. 17
Oct 30, 2007
On Principles & Values:
On “inexperience”: he wrote policy books that media ignores
The greatest barrier to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has been the attacks on his qualifications by the press. Over and over again, the media damned Obama as inexperienced. [One pundit writes], “He is young, the youngest in the field. He is very
inexperienced compared to other candidates.” Another noted, “Obama’s biggest problem may not be that he’s black but that he’s green.” The idea of Obama as inexperienced was not merely unproven but the opposite of truth. Since the details of
Obama’s life have already been extensively covered in his own books, journalists have little new to do except trying to find holes in Obama’s story.
As Obama noted, “I’ve written two very detailed books that give people a pretty good window into my
heart and soul. I’ve given policy speeches on just about every important issue.” It was the media that didn’t want to talk about policies, not Obama. Yet in the media spotlight, the horse race always prevails over policy debates.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p. 25-27
Oct 30, 2007
On Principles & Values:
Real estate deal with felon was “boneheaded” but ethical
When Obama bought a new house and then purchased a small part of the next door lot from a contributor named Tony Rezko in 2006, he was caught up in the backlash a few months later when Rezko was indicted on corruption charges. Rezko had discovered the
lot next door to the house Obama was eyeing was for sale by the same owner, and he bought it the same day the Obamas closed on their home.[After accusations of an unethical deal, press investigations showed that], Obama paid fair market value for his
portion of the land [as did Rezko]. Rezko was indicted for fraud [unrelated to real estate], but at the time Obama bought his house, there was no public indication of Rezko’s problems.
Obama declared, “I am the first to acknowledge that it was a
boneheaded move for me to purchase from Rezko.” Despite all the rumors about Obama and Rezko, none of the evidence indicated any wrongdoing. The mistake Obama made was to have any dealings at all that would give the appearance of impropriety.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p. 31-36
Oct 30, 2007
On Homeland Security:
Judgment is as important as experience
The conservative magazine the Economist said, “Mr. Obama has already shown that he possesses something more important than expertise--judgment. His prediction about the Iraq war back in 2002 has proved strikingly prescient.”
In 2002, Obama said: “I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the
Middle East and encourage the worst, rather than the best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.“
Everything Obama said five years ago has come true. As columnist Margaret Carlson noted, Obama ”was dead-on correct about the seminal issue of our time.“
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p. 39
Oct 30, 2007
On Homeland Security:
If attacked, first help victims then prevent further attacks
At the First Democratic debate on April 26, 2007, the moderator asked how would you change the US military stance overseas if we learned that two US cities were hit by al-Qaeda terrorists.Obama responded, “Well, first thing we’d have to do is make
sure that we’ve got an effective emergency response. The second thing is to make sure we’ve got good intelligence, A, to find out that we don’t have other threats and attacks potentially out there, and B, to find out do we have any intelligence on who
might have carried it out so that we can take potentially some action to dismantle that network.“
Later in the debate, Obama added, ”We have genuine enemies out there that have to be hunted down; networks have to be dismantled.
There is no contradiction between us intelligently using our military and, in some cases, lethal force to take out terrorists and, at the same time, building the sort of alliances and trust around the world that has been lacking over the last six years.“
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p. 40-41
Oct 30, 2007
On War & Peace:
2002: I don’t oppose all war; I do oppose dumb war
On October 26, 2002, Obama said: “I don’t oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in
this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne. What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the
uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income, to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression. That’s what I’m opposed to. A dumb war. A war based not
on reason but on passion.“In 2002, when Obama opposed war with Iraq, he knew he would run for the Senate in 2004 and this stand might cost him the election. No other major Democratic candidate for president opposed the war before it happened.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p. 43-44
Oct 30, 2007
On Principles & Values:
Veiled racism in dismissing Obama as “unqualified”
There’s a veiled racism in some of the claims that Obama isn’t qualified to be president. It’s something African-Americans are accustomed to hearing from less-qualified whites who think the black guy is getting the attention and the applause because of
his race.One pundit wrote: “There is nothing he can do to address his major shortcoming: the absence on his resume of the kind of major achievement that qualifies a person for the White House.” Of course,
Obama has many achievements, and it is hard to find a major achievement of most senators running for president.
Obama’s experiences challenge the conventional wisdom of the establishment.
Obama is a different kind of outsider. He is an outsider accustomed to working with legislators from the other party, and an outsider committed to pragmatic solutions.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p. 50-51
Oct 30, 2007
On Civil Rights:
Include class-based affirmative action with race-based
Obama declared his daughters “should probably be treated by any admissions officer as folks who are pretty advantaged. I think that we should take into account white kids who have been disadvantaged and have grown up in poverty and shown themselves to
have what it takes to succeed.”But Obama is not race blind, and neither is his ideal of affirmative action, which would combine both race-based and class-based preferences. He said, “I don’t think those concepts are mutually exclusive.
I think what one can say is that in our society race and class still intersect, and there are a lot of African American kids who are struggling, that even those who are in the middle class may be first generation as opposed to
fifth or sixth generation college attendees, and that we all have an interest in bringing as many people together to help build this country.“
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p. 65-66
Oct 30, 2007
On Principles & Values:
Bradley effect: black candidates poll above actual votes
Analysts are skeptical whether people are telling the truth when they say they would support a black candidate. It’s called the “Bradley effect”: It occurs when racist whites vote against black candidates even though they tell pollsters the opposite.
The term “Bradley effect” comes from the 1982 election, when Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley, an African American, narrowly lost his reelection despite polls that showed a lead. [That effect was repeated in David Dinkins’ race for NYC mayor, and Douglas
Wilder’s race for VA Governor].Is the Bradley effect history? A 1958 poll found that 53% of Americans admitted they would not vote for a black presidential candidate. In 2003, only 6% said they would not vote for a black president.
The people who voted against Bradley, Wilder, and Dinkins despite telling pollsters the opposite were those who, in the abstract, were racist toward black candidates. But in generational terms, openly racist voters have mostly died off.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p. 88-89
Oct 30, 2007
On Principles & Values:
Madrassa myth perpetuated by false email & fabricated story
One shocking story hit the news on Jan. 17, 2007: “Are the American people ready for an elected president who was educated in a madrassa as a young boy and has not been forthcoming about his Muslim heritage?” Insight magazine claimed that Obama
spent at least 4 years in a so-called madrassa, or Muslim seminary, in Indonesia. Quickly, a wave of outrage & fear about Obama hit the conservative blogosphere. There was only one problem with this spectacular story: It was a complete fabrication.
[The story was based on an] April 2005 anti-Obama email entitled “The Enemy Within,” which circulated among right-wing circles. CNN sent a correspondent to Indonesia the check on the story. CNN reported that the madrassa “was an ordinary public school
Kids ran around in short pants and learned math and science and participated in the Boy Scouts.” One reason the madrassa lie was so convincing can be attributed to the blind hatred of Muslims found on the Far Right.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p. 95-102
Oct 30, 2007
On Civil Rights:
Decisions about marriage should be left to the states
One of Obama’s pragmatic stands troubling to progressives is on gay marriage. In the Senate debate, Obama opposed the right-wing Federal Marriage Amendment to ban gay marriage nationally and said: “I agree with most
Americans, with Democrats and Republicans, with Vice President Cheney, with over 2,000 religious leaders of all different beliefs, that decisions about marriage, as they always have, should be left to the states.”
However, Obama also declared, “Personally, I do believe that marriage is between a man and a woman.”
At the same time, Obama has strongly supported civil unions, arguing that it is a way to protect equal rights without taking the politically risky approach of gay marriage.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.114-115
Oct 30, 2007
On Civil Rights:
Homosexuality no more immoral than heterosexuality
A reporter asked Obama, “What do you think about General Pace’s comments that homosexuality is immoral?” Obama said, “I think traditionally the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman has restricted his public comments to military matters.
That’s a good tradition to follow. I think the question here is whether somebody is willing to sacrifice for their country, should they be able to? If they are doing all the things that are needed to be done.”
Obama later said, “I don’t think homosexuals are immoral any more than I think heterosexuals are immoral.” Obama has taken a forthright stand calling for the end of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. He said, “It is time to review the ‘don’t ask, don’t
tell’ policy and do what is in the best interests of our national security. At time when the services are having a tough time recruiting and training troops, it seems foolish to kick out good soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who want to serve.”
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.115
Oct 30, 2007
On Foreign Policy:
No Obama Doctrine; just democracy, security, liberty
Obama’s failure to condemn all military action has led to criticism from some on the left. One critic noted: “He accepts the Bush Doctrine. He accepts the doctrine of preemptive strikes.”The key part of the Bush Doctrine is the focus on unilateral
action and the use of force to spread democracy around the world. And the worst part of the Bush administration is not the Bush Doctrine but Bush’s implementation of it.
As Obama famously declared in 2002, he did not oppose all wars, but he did oppose
a “dumb war.” Isolationism must not be the reaction to a dumb president and a dumb war.
There is no Obama Doctrine because Obama is not a doctrinaire kind of leader who operates according to fixed policies. Instead, Obama believes in a set of principle
(democracy, security, liberty) for the world and tries to come up with practical measures for incrementally increasing US security and global freedom. He rejects isolationism and he tries to steer clear of unilateralism.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.117-118
Oct 30, 2007
On Principles & Values:
Apply lessons from both Goldwater and McGovern
Liberals embrace candidates who sound progressive because they run to the left for the primary and then to the right during the general election--and end up undermining any authority they might have. Obama has generally not played this game, and it is
part of what makes him different.Conservatives and liberals have learned different lessons from losing. In 1964, when Barry Goldwater was trounced by Johnson, it actually launched today’s conservative movement that culminated in the election of Reagan
In 1972, when McGovern was trounced by Nixon, the progressive movement was dead. Democrats always avoided a progressive agenda. After the miserable failures of Gore and Kerry, progressives have argued that Democrats need to follow the conservative
approach post-Goldwater and win by standing for something. Obama is trying to bridge these two approaches, to have integrity and progressive values, while simultaneously presenting a more centrist face that appeals across political boundaries.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.125
Oct 30, 2007
On Principles & Values:
Uses prayer to take stock of his moral compass
Obama’s grandparents, with whom he lived during his adolescence, were skeptical Christians who became Unitarians. But it was Obama’s mother who provided him with “a working knowledge of the world’s great religions.”Obama’s secular upbringing has
shaped his approach to religion today: “My faith is complicated by the fact that I didn’t grow up in a particular religious tradition. When you come at it as an adult, your brain mediates a lot, and you ask a lot of questions.”
When
Obama prays, he says, he is engaged in an “ongoing conversation with God.” But this conversation is not a delusional belief that a supernatural being is talking directly to him. Instead, Obama uses God as a way to check his own ego.
He uses prayer to “take stock” of himself and maintain his “moral compass.” He has a conversation with God in order to ask himself, “Am I doing this because it’s advantageous to me politically or because I think it’s the right thing to do.”
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.134-138
Oct 30, 2007
On Crime:
Pushed Illinois bill to videotape all capital interrogations
Obama had a 2002 bill to stop police abuse. Chicago had become infamous for use of torture by police to help frame innocent people. Thirteen innocent men on Death Row were exonerated and released, some of them victims of these tortured confessions.
Illinois desperately needed some action to restore confidence in the police. Obama’s proposal was to require videotaping of interrogations of suspects in capital cases.
When Obama began, the idea of a bill was opposed by police, prosecutors, most of the senate and the governor. The governor was determined not to appear soft on crime, and had promised to veto any proposal for mandatory tapings. By the time
Obama finished his work, the police and prosecutors embraced the bill, it passed in the Illinois Senate by a vote of 58-0. The governor took the unusual step of reversing himself to sign it, and Illinois became the first state to require such tapings.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.145
Oct 30, 2007
On Crime:
No extra penalty for gang association
Most people like the idea of a politician who votes for individual rights, but the fact that Obama could do so and still maintain the respect of law enforcement shows his political skills. Obama voted against a proposal to criminalize contact with a gang
for any convicts on probation or out on bail. In 2001, Obama opposed making gang activity eligible for the death penalty. “There’s a strong overlap between gang affiliation and young men of color....
I think it’s problematic for them to be singled out as more likely to receive the death penalty for carrying out certain acts than are others who do the same thing.“ In 1999, Obama opposed mandatory adult prosecution for youth who discharge a firearm nea
a school, declaring, ”There is really no proof or indication that automatic transfers and increased penalties and adult penalties for juvenile offenses have, in fact, proven to be more effective in reducing juvenile crime or cutting back on recidivism.“
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.146
Oct 30, 2007
On Drugs:
2001: questions harsh penalties for drug dealing
In 2001, Obama questioned the harsh penalties for drug dealing, noting that selling 15 tablets of Ecstasy was the same class of felony as raping a woman at knifepoint.
In 2002, Obama sponsored an unsuccessful measure to create an employment grant program for edx-criminals, who often return to a life of crime because no one will hire them.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.146-147
Oct 30, 2007
On Abortion:
Voted against banning partial birth abortion
Obama’s record in Illinois represents that of a pragmatic progressive, who pushed for moderate reforms and opposed right-wing legislation. In the IL legislature, voting “present” is the equivalent of voting “no” because a majority of “yes” votes are
required for passage. Many IL legislators use the “present” vote as an evasion on an unpopular choice, so that they can avoid being targeted for voting “no.” During the 2004 Democratic primary, an opponent mocked Obama’s “present” vote on abortion bills
with flyers portraying a rubber duck and the words, “He ducked!”.In 1997, Obama voted against SB 230, which would have turned doctors into felons by banning so-called partial-birth abortion, & against a 2000 bill banning state funding. Although these
bills included an exception to save the life of the mother, they didn’t include anything about abortions necessary to protect the health of the mother. The legislation defined a fetus as a person, & could have criminalized virtually all abortion.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.147-148
Oct 30, 2007
On Gun Control:
2000: cosponsored bill to limit purchases to 1 gun per month
Obama sought moderate gun control measures, such as a 2000 bill he cosponsored to limit handgun purchases to one per month (it did not pass).
He voted against letting people violate local weapons bans in cases of self-defense, but also voted in2004 to let retired police officers carry concealed handguns.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.148
Oct 30, 2007
On Health Care:
Added 20,000 children to Illinois healthcare
Obama also has a record of success on health care in Illinois. He sponsored the legislation expanding Kid Care and Family Care that added 20,000 children to the state health insurance program. Obama was a cosponsor of the
Senior Citizen Prescription Drug Discount Program Act, which enabled senior citizens and the disabled to obtain prescription drugs at discount rates. Obama also cosponsored smaller reforms such as SB989, which allowed
Medicaid money to care for mentally or emotionally disturbed children as outpatients rather than the far more expensive option of institutionalizing them, and
SB1417, which required all insurance companies operating in Illinois to pay for screenings of colorectal cancer.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.148
Oct 30, 2007
On Budget & Economy:
Rejects free market vision of government
In a 2005 commencement address, Obama described the conservative philosophy of government as “to give everyone one big refund on their government, divvy it up by individual portions, in the form of tax breaks, hand it out, and encourage everyone to
use their share to go buy their own health care, their own retirement plan, their own child care, their own education, and so on. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society. But in our past there has been another term for it,
Social Darwinism, every man or woman for him or herself. It’s a tempting idea, because it doesn’t require much thought or ingenuity.“ Obama has rejected this free market vision
of government, preferring to see the power of the state as something that can serve the public interest. According to Obama, ”We’re going to put more money into education than we have. WE have to invest in human capital.“
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.155
Oct 30, 2007
On Tax Reform:
Trillion dollar giveaway: the Paris Hilton Tax Break
Obama said, “Domestically, our national debt and budget constrain us in ways that are going to be very far-reaching. And I think whoever is elected in
2008 is going to be cleaning up the fiscal mess that was created as a consequence of the president’s tax cuts.” Obama opposed repealing the estate tax: “Let’s call this trillion dollar giveaway what it is--the
Paris Hilton Tax Break. It’s about giving billions of dollars to billionaire heirs and heiresses as a time when American taxpayers just can’t afford it.“
Obama has proposed to ”reverse some of those tax cuts that went to the wealthiest Americans.“ As Obama put it, ”It’s not as if rich people were suffering under Bill Clinton.“
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.155
Oct 30, 2007
On Environment:
Organized inner-city recycling; fought environmental racism
One environmental magazine called Obama a “bona-fide, card-carrying, bleeding-heart greenie.” As a student at Columbia University, Obama worked for three months as an environmental activist to promote recycling in Harlem. As a community organizer, he
fought against environmental racism by helping public housing residents demand to have their apartments tested for asbestos and repaired. He noted, “Environmentalism is not an upper-income issue, it’s not a black issue, it’s not a South or a North or an
East or a West issue. It’s an issue that all of us have a stake in.“Obama introduced a bill requiring more pollution controls at coal plants to block Bush from rolling back the Clean Air Act in Illinois. He cosponsored a bill to require that
10% of electricity in the state come from renewable sources by 2012, and supported measures to increase energy efficiency codes. Obama sought tougher standards for diesel engines and proposed protecting wetland and stopping toxic dumping.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.157-158
Oct 30, 2007
On Foreign Policy:
Wrote 2006 law stabilizing Congo with $52M
Obama wrote the law signed in 2006 that provided $52 million in US assistance to help stabilize the Congo, and he worked to approve $20 million for the African Union peacekeeping mission.
Obama also worked with Sam Brownback (R-Kans.), writing an op-ed in the Washington Post criticizing the Bush administration’s failure to stop genocide in Darfur.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.160
Oct 30, 2007
On Homeland Security:
2006: Obama-Lugar bill restricted conventional weapons
Obama worked with Richard Lugar (R-IN) to pass legislation to help secure dangerous conventional weapons, especially from the former Soviet Union. In Dec. 2006, the Senate passed the Lugar-Obama bill to restrict the global spread of conventional weapons.
Obama noted, “The Lugar-Obama initiative will help other nations find and eliminate the type of conventional weapons that have been used against our own soldiers in Iraq and sought by terrorists all over the world.”
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.160
Oct 30, 2007
On Government Reform:
Reduced cost TV ads for candidates; $85M presidential limit
Obama has suggested public financing of elections, reduced-cost TV ads for candidates, and limits on the revolving door for congressional staffers who become lobbyists. He sought to ban gifts from lobbyists and corporate-financed travel.
To show his commitment, Obama even gave up one of his favorite perks: low-cost travel on private planes donated by lobbyists. He accounced that he would “pay the full costs of a flight taken on someone else’s private plan, rather than pay the much
cheaper price of a first-class ticket.“Obama supported numerous reforms that his colleagues would not embrace, including proposals to prohibit paid coordination of lobbying, ban lawmakers from negotiating future employment as lobbyists, prohibit
earmarks in which a member of Congress has a financial interest, and ban the use of earmarks to buy votes.
So far, John McCain has been the only Republican to agree to Obama’s proposal to limit general election spending to $85 million.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.162-163
Oct 30, 2007
On Principles & Values:
Invites supporters to join him on “This Improbable Quest”
On Feb. 10, 2007, Obama stood in front of cold fans in Springfield, Illinois to announce his presidential plans and invite them to join “this improbable quest.” Obama’s campaign is improbable, but not because he is black and so little known nationally
It seems improbable because it defies the political establishment. Obama is a candidate who urges bipartisanship, who calls for ethics reform and changes in the campaign finance systems, and who speaks in grand terms about transforming American politics.
Obama’s biggest flaw may be that he’s not audacious enough, that he holds his tongue to spare feelings. Obama thinks we need to restore faith in government and hope in the better nature of our fellow citizens. But sometimes he seems unwilling to trust
the people enough to tell them what he really thinks. Or perhaps he just doesn’t trust the media to let him engage in honesty without destroying his campaign. Instead, Obama’s first instinct too often is to compromise to reach common ground.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.165
Oct 30, 2007
On Principles & Values:
Resolve “most electable” vs.“most progressive” by being both
There is something satisfying about hearing an uncompromising voice for what you think is right. A noisemaker can draw attention to a problem, but it takes a leader to solve it. So the progressive movement needs both noisemakers & leaders. But we need to
avoid the assumption that the noisemakers are the true progressives, & the leaders compromised sell-outs. Noisemakers are easier to find; it’s the leaders who are essential. The genius of Obama is his ability to pursue a progressive agenda in a bipartisa
manner, to merge liberalism with practical politics.For a long time, progressive have been forced in the Democratic primary to choose between pragmatism and idealism, between delectability and values. In 2004, many Democrats made the unfortunate choic
of John Kerry over Howard Dean precisely because they though Dean couldn’t be elected. Obama offers an easy resolution to this program, by being both the most electable and the most progressive candidate among the leaders in the Democratic Party.
Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.166
Oct 30, 2007