The Eloquence of Obama

The Final Presidential Debate was this week and it is becoming ever clearer that Obama is a great candidate for President. All of us would like to believe that we didn’t see race when we threw our support towards Obama. Reading all of his potential policies and truly believing in everything that he has planned for America. Meaning if Barack Obama was Barry O’Malley we would still be down for the cause right? I can’t lie the first reason why I threw my support towards Obama was because he was black. My thought process was, if we don’t get this Black Man in office, how many other chances are we going to get? There was an e-mail being forwarded around justifying why many African Americans should have the right to choose Obama just because he is black. Listing all the hardships that African Americans have gone through just because they were black. Have to go to the back of the bus because you are black. Drink from a certain water fountain because you are black. Get pulled over in a nice car because you are black. However, when African Americans want to choose the next president “because he is black”, now its bad and we are being racist? At this stage in African American history, being black to me is cause enough to vote Obama into office. Taking a step back, I began to realize that on the surface it seemed like we as a race were just voting for Barack Obama because he was black, but there is something deeper about this senator from Chicago that has caught our attention. As Chris Rock said in an interview with Larry King, “If it was Flavor Flav running for president would I be proud? NO.” Barack Obama speaks to the hearts of many African Americans because he wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He was not able to go to an Ivy League school and become the first African American President of The Harvard Law Review because his father bought the university a new library. Barack Obama pulled himself up from his own bootstraps and made a name for his self through hard work and dedication. However, the respect he garners is not from his story of a small black kid growing up in a mean white world. He garnered his respect by not forgetting the people many others left behind. Passing up offers to make millions of dollars as a hot shot lawyer, he decided to plant himself in a pain stricken town of Chicago where he helped communities get back on their feet and dream for a better tomorrow.

All this however does not make him a good candidate for president. There are many great people out there with stories similar to Obama’s who would not make very good presidents at all. There has to an unshakeable self assuredness that the person knows what’s best for the country. The person has to be able to look at his opponent and not find differences but look for common ground. Even under intense scrutiny, the person must be able to keep calm and explain themselves clearly and sincerely. Even though McCain in his desperation was trying to prove to the American people that Obama is not ready to be president, McCain helped reassure me that Obama is indeed ready to become the leader of the free world. When Senator McCain questioned Obama on his tax policy calling it “class warfare”, Senator Obama reasoned that it was within the middle class in which our financial crisis will be solved. When McCain questioned Obama’s stance on Abortion, Obama found common ground in the fact that no one likes or wants Abortion but the final decision should be left unto the mother not the government to decide. McCain even questioned Obama relationship with William Ayers, a former domestic terrorist during the Vietnam War. Once Again, Obama respectfully but decisively dismissed the notion that William Ayers has or had anything to do with his campaign.

Senator Obama coolly withstood the jabs of John McCain and when it seemed that Senator McCain landed the haymaker, Obama brushed his shoulder clear of the accusation and continued on with his speech to change America for the better. Obama’s calm demeanor extinguished any doubts I, myself, had for him in terms of experience, mental and emotional aptitude for the job of President. Along with my vote, it seems that Obama now is poised to take down the “No Blacks Allowed” sign of the White House and begin the era of true liberty and equality for all.

...Imeabasi...