The Ideal In Us All

The Charleston Gazette gave its endorsement to Barack Obama on Tuesday, April 8, with the following words:

“We support the brilliant, inspiring & eloquent Barack Obama. A rare figure in U.S. politics - a deep thinker who rises above partisan sniping and makes statecraft seem noble. He appeals to the innate decency in all groups of people, beyond party lines, without personal grandiosity. He can restore America's finest values, honor and fairness.”

The Charleston Gazette, Charleston West Virginia. Read the entire article at: http://www.wvgazette.com/Opinion/Editorials/200804070537?page=1&build=cache

While an excellent statement to Obama’s character and worthiness for office, this quotation also points up the qualities to which we all could aspire regarding this campaign. Certainly, none of us is going to be “brilliant, inspiring, eloquent, deep thinker, [rising] above partisan sniping,” doing all with “honor and fairness,” all of the time, not even Obama. We can aspire to it, though, and appreciate these qualities within ourselves whenever we can achieve them in any measure at all. We are capable of being as good and as wise as we dream of being, and our perceived shortcomings can help us better achieve our highest goals if we learn from mistakes rather than become discouraged by them.

Collectively ,then, we might contribute to sustaining and even enhancing the high tone of this campaign during the difficult months ahead until the nomination. Obama’s winning the Democratic nomination and eventually the presidency is not a foregone conclusion, but the issue is no longer really in doubt if we all pull together and act positively on our convictions. The issue is at least certain enough to encourage us to avoid negative infighting as the campaign goes on, and instead to concentrate on the positive values this campaign represents and the important national and internal issues involved.

It is rare for a national leader to emerge who reminds us so strongly of the best each of us can be for ourselves and for our communities. Obama is such a person, and it is generally recognized that the nearest figure like him in presidential politics would be John F. Kennedy. We can best follow Obama’s leadership by aspiring to the qualities within ourselves that we admire in him. In so doing, we will help to bring about much of the change we collectively seek in supporting Barack Obama for president.

Perhaps the Charleston Gazette endorsement best sums up these points in its description of Obama:

”Obama appeals to the innate decency in all groups of people, beyond party lines, without personal grandiosity. He fosters a desire to restore America's finest values of honor and fairness.”