Citizenship for beginners: part two

On a Thursday afternoon in September 2007, my then-fiancee and I left work early to attend a rally for Barack Obama at the Georgia World Congress Center. He had already been through Atlanta once, speaking to a crowd of 20,000 at Georgia Tech on a Saturday morning. While the attendance was expectedly lower on that Thursday afternoon than at the previous speech, the enthusiasm of the crowd far outstripped its size. The early arrivers to the GWCC (which I would estimate at 2,500) formed a serpentine circuit throughout the lobby, waiting abuzzedly for the auditorium doors to open. Once inside, the crowd filled the room wall-to-wall, facing an enormous American flag that had been draped to backdrop the stage. I half expected Obama to be lowered to the stage in an Uncle Sam tophat and flowing robe, a la Apollo Creed in Rocky IV.

For forty-five minutes the attendees milled about, anticipating Obama's entrance while pop songs spilled out of the overhead speakers. The crowd was beginning to grow restless when one of Obama's campaign managers finally took the stage to loud applause. He spoke for a moment, thanking the crowd for their support, and introduced a local organizer, who shared an anecdote about Obama and explained her personal compulsion to help him win the Presidency. She spoke of an almost-religious awakening to that calling; this was one of the first indications to me that this would be an extraordinary campaign. This was a politician unlike any I had seen since the dawn of my political awareness, one with the ability to stir the passion of ordinary citizens, to make them believe in his legitimacy despite being nationally unknown before the Democratic National Convention four years ago.

Unfortunately, we would have to wade through a host of less compelling personalities before we'd witness Barack Obama for ourselves. One after another, local celebrities and politicians like Dominique Wilkins, Rep. Sanford Bishop, and even Usher Raymond took the stage offering endorsements and seeking to align themselves with Obama. Finally, after Rep. Hank Johnson finished reciting an interminable and pedestrian speech from a stack of notecards, a staffer came to the stage to introduce the Senator from Illinois.

There are candidates from both parties who are principled and capable, who have demonstrated strength of judgement and political savvy, and who have been able to mobilize backing enough to sustain campaigns to this point. But none of his competitors has the charisma and force of character to engender the fervent support of those who feel alienated from the political system, younger and lower income voters in particular. As soon as he stepped onstage, illuminated by thousands of camera flashes and buried beneath a roar of applause, I felt it. He delivered a speech with palpable confidence, passion, and resolve, as all candidates do, and said all the right things, as all candidates must. The message of his current speeches doesn't differ substantially from the one we heard. He spoke about the need for unity and cooperation in a polarized country, for hope and optimism in the face of tremendous challenges. They're not revolutionary ideas, or even particularly original ones, but they obviously resonate with a lot of people. I am frankly shocked that none of his competitors have adapted their positions to his ideas, diluting the power of his approach.

It may seem trivial to judge a political candidate on charm and poise, but given the recent loss of American standing internationally and the racalcitrance of the Bush administration over the past eight years, these are qualities that will help to resuscitate our reputation and promote goodwill in our relations with other powers. And domestically, with both presidential and congressional approval ratings at all-time lows, it is clear that the American populace has had enough of the gridlock created by partisan clashing. His message is obviously taking. In Iowa last week, the turnout for the Democratic caucus doubled that of Republicans and bettered by far the wildest of pre-caucus estimates. Obama supporters convened at an Atlanta restaurant to watch the TV coverage of the Iowa returns, and the mood was excited before any tallies had been announced. As the percentage of reporting caucus precincts grew, so did Obama's lead. When CNN finally projected Obama as the winner, the crowd went ecstatic, waving signs and screaming out his campaign motto in a furious call and response: "Fired up! Ready to go! Fired up! Ready to go!"

A look at the Iowa return statistics reveals that fifty-seven percent of participants under thirty-years old caucused for Obama; also, of the more-than-half of voters that were participating in the caucus for the first time, forty percent chose him, driving him to a comfortable victory. In nearly every demographic he outperformed the projections. His success in that first primary demonstrated that winning this election will not only require that he persuade existing voters to choose him, but will also depend on his ability to rouse politically inert people to go to the polls and mark his name. And while the Democratic nomination is far from secured, Obama's performance in Iowa has shifted the national perception about his viability in the general election, and his remarkable fundraising effort ensures that he'll have the infrastructure in place to continue to perform well in the upcoming primaries around the country. My now-wife and I will be at the Atlanta Obama primary party tomorrow night as the votes come in from New Hampshire, hoping as we did last week that the voters push him to victory. Perhaps tomorrow night will prove again how powerful a force hope can be.