The less political baggage, the better

[continues from page Obama 3] But the question remains. Can Obama’s handlers construct a machine skilled enough to implant his message in the broader public mindspace and win some states on Super Tuesday, or come out a strong second or third? No one candidate will dominate the outcome on Super Tuesday; the field is too thick with excellent choices (and voters love a good choice).
 
Another intriguing aspect of an Obama candidacy is that his Washington political baggage is light because his time in Washington has been brief. Other candidates have attempted to make his brief tenure in the Senate a shortcoming. Careful-careful now – the undercurrent of discontent rumbling among voters does not favor Washington politics-as-usual. In this race, the less political baggage, the better, because the sentiment among many voters is that something smells rotten at the top and the nation needs a change. As Bob Dylan sang years ago, “the times they are a changing,”
 
The heartland voter
 
But the heartland of the nation will be Obama's toughest challenge – the Midwest and Southwest states, as well as traditional Whites in the Bible belt states of the South. Can Obama’s message resonate with those heartland voters and penetrate through conditioned attitudes Not to vote for a Black candidate? Can he capture the imagination of those voters with a traditional view of America and apple pie? Can he convince them that the apple pie needs attending to in the oven for the good of the nation?
 
If Obama can convince the heartland that he has answers to their problems, then the 2008 primary campaign will be NOT-so-politics-as-usual. It will be the race that launches America deeper into its own experiment with democracy in the 21st century. Like it or not, the world is changing. Win, lose or draw, Obama represents the most inspiring force in American politics since JFK. Be audacious, baby.
 
Bill Curtis is a writer/entrepreneur in Baltimore, MD, USA. To re-print this article, ask permisison. Thanks.
Email: BillCurtis@ObamaOnTheMove.com.
© 2007 Bill Curtis/21st Century Productions. All rights reserved.
 
This article in no way represents the views of the Obama campaign and is not associated in any way or affiliated with the Barack Obama campaign committee.