Headline - Obama not Perfect!

Paul Krugman lashed out at Obama today. Krugman is an economist and columnist whom I respect, and Dr. Krugman, like myself is a staunch liberal. Krugman and I would probably agree that health insurance should be a single, socialized service provided by government for it's people.


But Dr. Krugman and I disagree about Obama, and that is what I'd like to focus on today. Obama is the only choice that I can support in the Democratic primaries, even whle Senator Obama is not a perfect choice.

The reasons not to commit to Obama are almost too many to list:

• He is a sitting US Senator
  
• He is black
  
• He found faith late in life
  
• He relies on charisma and rhetoric
  

Hopefully you get the idea. What many of you may not know unless you've been reading the inside the beltway news, is that only two sitting US Senators ever won a US Presidency. Only one of those Senators is a household name. Obama would actually be better served if soon after IA he retires from the Senate, at least statistically speaking.

Race is also an issue, but again Obama seems to be able to transcend the race issue for now (although the Jesse Helm's of the world are just waiting to pounce). There is a confulgration of events that make race less important: Tiger Woods, Michelle Wie, and the failure of the Southern Strategy to create a GOP majority.

Obama has the following advantages - advantages that attract my vote - even while I may wince a bit at his conservative rhetoric. He

• Understands the power of communication and conversation (like Bill Clinton)
  
• Understands that disagreements are okay (unlike Bush and Hillary)
  
• Understands that America is not perfect
  
• Understands that helping others is the only viable solution
  

He is showing through his organizational skills that he as learned the Howard Dean lessons, and hopefully he will not make the Dean mistakes. He is the liberal voice, even while his rhetoric will infuriate the keepers of the liberal flame.

Rhetoric is important. Mandate will lose you an election, even with GOP approval ratings into the toilet thanks to our well seasoned, well advised team of Cheney and Bush. Mandate scares people, along with the term socialized. Those terms have been defined by the Rush Limbaughs of the world. Let go, Dr. Krugman, let go.

Ideas transcend words, rephrase the problem in how do we help, and suddenly you have a solution conservative, rural America can accept and internalize.

Rhetoric matters. Obama understands that. My advice to Mr. Krugman, become an adviser to Obama, I'm sure he'll listen even while he disagrees. And keep writing those great articles about the importance of economics and politics. You are definitely right about that! The "invisible hand" of the market is amoral. People need help understanding that key phrase.