A Great Hope

Barack Obama kicked off his campaign for President today, and aside from the fact that his announcement video was kind of buggy for Mac users (it's working now), I'd say it was flawless. The 2008 campaign on the Democratic side will go down in history, with candidates that are black, female, and Hispanic. This is not a small point and it should be well-remembered. It looks more like America than at any time in history.

The text of Obama's speech is here, and it's worth reading. He's an excellent orator and his speech hits on common themes of hope and purpose and the need for a new generation to solve problems. As a member of that generation, who's seen what the baby boomers have done the last 15 years... makes sense to me. On the issues, he highlighted the war, denounced those who use wedge issues to divide us, and hit on all the forward-thinking issues I care about.

The knives are already starting to come out against Obama because those who would deny him see what he represents. This idiotic story by Mike Allen, slamming the Illinois Senator by typing a GOP oppo research verbatim, is a notable example.

The Politico: Barack Obama’s free ride is ending.... Obama’s about to endure a going-over that would make a proctologist blush. Why has he sometimes said his first name is Arabic, and other times Swahili?... [T]he long knives will be out for Obama.... Officials at the top of both parties calculate that Obama has risen too fast... “vapid platitudes” that could produce a “soufflé effect.”... “With a couple of pinpricks here and there, the whole thing could fall apart.”...

Even his name offers fodder for the critics. When he was growing up, his family, friends and teachers called him “Barry.” Then as a young man, he started insisting on “Barack,” explaining in a memoir published in 1995 that his grandfather was a Muslim and that it means “blessed” in Arabic. His dad, who was Kenyan, had gone by “Barry” -- probably trying to fit in when he came to the States, his son figured. On the campaign trail during his 2004 Senate race, Obama told reporters that “Barack” was Swahili for “blessed by God.” Whatever its origins, the exotic, multicultural name...

As Brad DeLong notes, the word Barack not only means "blessed" in both Swahili and Arabic, as those two languages are inextricably linked, but it means "blessed" in Hebrew...

And this "exotic, multicultural name" business... "Barack" is so exotic and multicultural that five million Americans are supposed to say it at sundown every Friday night... the same word b•r•k in a Hebrew rather than an Arabic accent: "baruch":

"Baruch atah Adonai Elohenu melech ha'olam, asher kideshanu bemitzvotav vetzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Shabbat." "Blessed are you, O Lord our God, ruler of the universe, who has made us holy by your commandments and told us to light the Sabbath lights."

Five minutes' acquaintance with Judaism would have taught Mike Allen that b•r•k is about as exotic as the synagogue down the street, wouldn't it? About as unusual in America as the last name of Bernard Baruch, advisor to Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Harry Truman.

But Allen doesn't tell his readers any of this, does he?

Obama is also using the tools of the new generation to talk to a new generation.

Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois and apparent presidential hopeful, will be launching a social-networking feature on his site, BarackObama.com, Saturday, according to a video message he released Friday.

In telling his supporters to be ready for an important Saturday morning announcement from Springfield, Ill., his exploratory committee headquarters, he invited people to join what sounds like a MySpace for his supporters.

He describes it as "a tool to organize your friends, neighbors and networks." Members will be able to build their own profile, form affinity groups, plan events, and, of course, donate money to his campaign. As if that's not enough, Obama wants his fans to chronicle their "campaign experiences" on their personal blogs.

This is pretty similar to what Zack Exley was saying in terms of an outside-the-box way to use new media.

I have not committed to a candidate for 2008, but I think it's great that Obama's in the race. There are at least 5 candidates I can think of who I could clearly see doing a great job in the Oval Office. That's a far cry from 2004. This party has come a long way.