You'd have to possess a big old freezer of a Democratic heart, one of those basement models you pack with a year's worth of frozen meat, not have been warmed slightly by the sight of a black man bringing young voters out into the lily-white cold of Iowa with a message of bipartisanship and political hope. That one evening thawed some of the heartland permafrost that singes our politics, and Senator Barack Obama deserves every Democrat's respect and thanks for his eloquence.
If only every night in these United States was Iowa on January 3rd. If only every night's dusk brought goodwill and harmony and the common desire to bring Americans together, regardless of race or age or religion or party. If only every night, Americans went to bed with a warm glow and full stomachs and paid-up health insurance and an economic future better than their children's. But every night does not bring the warmth of brotherhood. And after watching this country slide toward decline over the last seven years, I cannot feed my future with hope alone, and I will not consign my children's future to a quality that's as elusive as the billions of particles of sand in the desert, and about as practically useful to a thirsty nation.
I'm prepared to believe. I 'm always down with hope. But there are also things I simply want to know. And to close the deal with Democratic voters, Senator Obama has some serious questions to answer.
The Illinois Democrat is fond of using Dr. King's famed "fierce urgency of now" metaphor, and it truly does capture this race for the nomination - but perhaps not in the way his speechwriters intend. For me, the fierce urgency of now isn't the march to the nomination; it's the election next fall, sure to be brutal. And it's the first 90 days, the first six months, the period from January to the July 4th holiday in 2009 when the next President will be at her (or his) strongest political point. That's what the fierce urgency of now is all about in this race for the White House.
And it doesn't boil down to a laundry list of academic policy papers on education, healthcare, the environment, and Iraq. Big-picture policy is fine. But I'd like answers to several questions from the new progressive front-runner.
Will he stop using the talking points of the right to defeat his political enemies on the left? Will the abandon silly talk of nonpartisanship and be prepared to take on directly the vicious slurs and unfair attacks from the right that are sure to follow his nomination - attacks on his background, race, age, religion and anything else the other side believes might stick enough to peel off a battleground state in November? Will he change his healthcare proposal to cover all Americans, and stop defending a middle-of-the-road plan that excites nobody who reads it? Will he stop referring to unions as "special interests" and dismissing the trial lawyers as a lesser breed of professional Americans? Will he prepare for debates seriously and stop relying on his natural brilliance as a speaker? Will he begin a crash course on foreign policy now with experienced, senior advisers so that he will appear better-informed next fall? Will he attack Republicans who supported the Bush Administration these last seven years, and so help Democratic congressional candidates next fall? And speaking of Congress, how will he force the do-nothing "majority" bench of worthless Democratic leadership on the Hill into some form of policy-making - ah, what's the word - audacity?
Many of us need to know this information now, given the fierce urgency of the race. It seems to me that Senator Obama needs consider his movement built, and consider what to do with his immediately. This nomination battle still has a month or more to run with many states to contest and two well-funded, talented Democrats to contest them. Both of those Democrats represent historic firsts for the party and for the country. But I know a lot about Hillary Clinton's strengths and weaknesses, her policy priorities and her performance under intense stress, her ideas and her characters. She remains my candidate and I'm confident she'll be a brilliant President.
But there is a new front-runner, if only by a hair. And if I'm to eventually believe in the audacity of hope, Senator Obama, you have to convince me on the merits of the fierce urgency of now.
