Obama Turns the Corner, Sets Sights on General Election

Obama Declares Victory in Historic Democratic Nominating Contest:

In a truly historic event, Illinois Senator Barack Obama appeared before a crowd of more than 17,000 enthusiastic supporters packed into the Xcel Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, informing backers that he had secured enough delegates to attain the Democratic Party's nomination for president and become the first non-white male to accomplish this feat in the history of the United States of America.

With his announcement, Obama kicks off a five-month general election campaign against Republican nominee and Arizona Senator John McCain. McCain wasted little time attacking Democratic opponent. Speaking at an event in Louisiana alongside Governor Bobby Jindal, who attended a Memorial Day Weekend barbeque at McCain's home in Sedona, Arizona, and is seen by many as one of the leading candidates to serve as the senator's running mate, McCain told supporters that both he and Obama would push messages of change in their campaigns, but that, of the two, only he had a track record of crossing party lines to affect true change in Congress.

The Obama camp shot back quickly, calling it silly for a candidate who, over the last year, has a voting record that matched the Bush Administration 95% of the time, to label himself as a true change agent.

McCain and Bush: A Packaged Deal?
The point is well taken. McCain has worked hard to distance himself from the President, particularly as Bush's approval ratings linger in the doldrums. Indeed, he has been a fervent critic of the way in which early operations in Iraq were handled, while remaining one of the most stalwart supporters of the war, itself.

Still, on issues from tax cuts to health care reform, Bush and McCain have been attached at the hip. Coming out of their bitter 2000 primary contest and an election in which at least one reporter alleged to have heard McCain say he did not vote for the current president, McCain established himself as an opponent of the Bush tax cuts. More recently, though, perhaps in an effort to assure right-wing voters of his conservative economic credentials, McCain has effectively done a 180 and embraced the cuts.

On health care, McCain has joined the president in labeling Democratic proposals to establish a universal health care framework as socialized medicine. Despite the fact that nearly 50 million Americans live without access to quality health care services, McCain has, like President Bush, preyed upon the fears of voters in arguing that universal health care plans would take away their ability to select their own doctor, result in large queues at hospitals, and make it nearly impossible to get the high level of care they need. This, aside from being patently false and alarmingly inaccurate, goes to show the extent to which McCain has evolved from an independent maverick voice of reform within the Republican Party, to an opportunistic presidential candidate, all too willing to abandon what he knows to be sound policy in order to shore up support amongst skeptical voting blocs.

And so, while McCain consistently accused Senator Obama of being heavy on platitudes but light on anything in the way of specific policy proposals, it is the Arizona senator who seems to be spouting off rhetoric of change, while backing initiatives that represent more of the same ineffectual government against which Obama has premised his campaign.

Obama: The New Hope
Obama, however, offers something positive. He offers something exciting, new. A newcomer to Washington, Obama concedes nothing in terms of experience. As a community organizer in Chicago, he learned to effectively organize disaffected citizens behind a powerful cause and, through his gifted talents as an orator and negotiator, worked successfully to bring real change to afflicted communities on the Southside.

Moreover, while organizing, Obama saw and experienced first-hand the plight of economically and socially ravaged populations. The son of a low-income mother, himself, Obama was able to connect with these Chicagoans; in essence, he felt their pain and worked with every fiber of his young being to abate it.

Now, he brings this same conviction, this same compassionate perspective in his bid for the presidency. But it is about more than taking back the White House. It is about becoming a president in whom all Americans can believe, a president from whom Americans know they will get straight, concerned talk on important issues and, more importantly, real, workable solutions to address them.

In Barack Obama, Democratic voters have nominated someone who understands and is deeply in-tune with the pulse of this nation. As the candidate said to close his speech last night, 'Now is our time, America'. Now, indeed, Senator. Let's go change the world!