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Top Five Reasons Obama Fails to Inspire

John Fout

12/17/07 - 12:31 PM EST
The media coverage for Sen. Barack Obama (D., Ill.) has been overwhelmingly positive from the moment he spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. It's been so glowing, in fact, that it's hard to tell how much of his message of hope is real and how much has just been manufactured by doting reporters.

That's all very nice. But I hate buying into the superficial coverage of this candidate. So, I've decided to submit the top five reasons Obama fails to inspire me.

1. The Politics of Hope

Following the release of his bestseller, The Audacity of Hope, Obama carefully chose hope as the theme for his presidential campaign. His often speaks of a dream of uniting America's political divide.

While this is a laudable goal, it may also be an unattainable one. You need two to tango. The Republicans happen to have a particular strength that Democrats lack: unity. Despite the Democratic takeover of Congress in 2006, Republicans have frustrated almost every policy initiative proposed by the Democrats.

Obama has suggested that the divisiveness in Washington stems from the struggle of the 1960s. This is naïve. Aside from times of national crisis when Americans come together, politics has always been a divisive affair. Why would that change?

I don't believe the Republicans will embrace Obama; rather, they might eat him alive. Obama merely has to ask John Kerry, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Michael Dukakis, Walter Mondale and Jimmy Carter about dealing with Republicans.

Obama, you can't hope for change; you must fight for it.

2. Obama Has Not Won a Tough Contest

Many political pundits think the Democrats are a lock to win the presidency, but much can happen in the next year. A big concern I have about Obama is his ability to win in a difficult contest. How will he hold up in a tough fight?

Obama managed to avoid a struggle in his last election for Senate in 2004. His first opponent, Jim Ryan, pulled out of the contest following the release of sordid details from his divorce papers. Next came Alan Keyes. Keyes, who is not from Illinois, proved a simple test for Obama and was blown out without a contest.

In fact, Obama has only faced one difficult battle -- one he lost. He ran for Congress in 2000 against an incumbent, Rep. Bobby Rush (D., Ill.), whom Obama and his staff perceived to be in a poor position after Rush was beaten badly in a mayoral race.

Observers of that race note that Obama underestimated Rush. Obama was an unknown commodity and faced an uphill struggle the entire way, receiving only 30% of the votes. Obama's inexperience hurt him.

While there's no exact parallel to this race, it does raise questions about Obama's experience and his ability to run a long campaign. I still remember an inexperienced John Edwards in the 2004 vice presidential debate against Dick Cheney. Cheney cleaned Edwards' clock.

3. Failure to Lead on Iraq War

Obama has made much of his speech in Chicago in 2002 opposing the Iraq war. In that speech, he famously commented: "I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars." He words were prescient and might have been laudable if he'd followed up with action.

Obama has tried to use this speech to separate himself from Democrats who voted for the war. No other presidential candidates, including Hillary Clinton and Edwards, opposed the war in 2002.

But war protesters have not been able to count on Obama as a steady supporter. During his ballyhooed speech at the 2004 Democratic convention, he failed to use the platform to decry the war. He followed to form. He strongly supported John Kerry and set the stage for his present run with these famous words

: Hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty, the audacity of hope: In the end, that is God's greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation, a belief in things not seen, a belief that there are better days ahead.
Obama was also asked in 2004 how he would have voted on the Iraq resolution if he had been in the Senate. He said: "What would I have done? I don't know." Since arriving in the Senate, Obama and Clinton have had identical votes on Iraq.

Obama failed to lead on his opposition to the war.

4. Conservative Talking Points

Democratic activists hate it when fellow Democrats use GOP talking points to discuss an issue, because it suggests surrendering the battlefield, which is half the battle. Obama has been guilty of this on several notable occasions.

This summer, Obama and Clinton tussled over foreign affairs. Obama said that as president, he would meet with Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Clinton promptly criticized Obama for legitimizing cruel dictators without qualifying an agenda. Obama fired back by suggesting Clinton's foreign policy was a version of "Bush-Cheney lite," an assertion that hasn't held water with Democrats or Republicans.

In the last couple of months, Obama has embraced several conservative talking points on two big topics: health care and Social Security.

Critics of Obama, including the champion of progressives, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, question his health plan because it lacks a universal mandate. Echoing his conservative peers, Obama insists a mandate remains unenforceable.

Obama also used a conservative talking point on Social Security, insisting that it's a crisis that needs immediate attention. This is not true. The Social Security Trust Fund would run out in 2046, as I wrote in a recent column. Krugman spoke out about Obama's plans and was surprised when the Obama campaign released misleading information in his statements.

These missteps are a no-no for progressives.

5. Obama Takes Black Voters for Granted

Pundits have commented that Obama is the first black presidential candidate with a realistic chance to win. This makes me wonder why he appears to take black voters for granted.

This biggest instance arose when a controversy erupted over the Jena Six. The six were black teenagers charged with crimes after an attack on a white student in response to white students hanging a noose on tree in Jena, La. No white students were charged after the noose incident, and many felt this demonstrated unequal treatment. The black community raised funds for the six students' legal defense, and as many as 20,000 people marched in protest.

Obama chose not to attend the rallies, though his campaign did issue a statement calling for fairness and re-examination of the criminal justice system. Former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson -- an Obama supporter -- reportedly said of Obama's decision: "He's acting like he's white." I suspect Jackson said what many people thought at the time.

It seems like Obama chose not to take up the mantle of past civil rights leaders by not joining the Jena Six protest. It was a unique moment for Obama to show support for the black community. The question will be whether or not it will be seen as a make-or-break moment for black voters.

Obama's wife, Michelle, made comments a few months ago on MSNBC that seem typical of how the campaign thinks. Speaking about the black vote, she said: "Black America will wake up." She continued: "There's a natural fear of possibility" and "always doubt in the minds of people of color."

Presently, polls show that Obama and Clinton split the black vote approximately 50-50.

There's no doubt Obama is an excellent candidate for president, and he may even present a historic win. But before that can happen, he must explain to Democrats why he doesn't want to continue the fights of the 1960s -- included battles over civil rights, the antiwar movement, expansion of Social Security and expanding health care (Medicare). Many Democrats passionately believe in these issues.

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