Sex and Tampa Bay

This post on The Huffington Post pretty much sums up my thoughts on the Clinton/Obama thing perfectly.

I saw Senator Obama when he was here last year. I’m a pretty cynical person when it comes to politics, mostly because of my poly sci degree. I’m sure that biologists aren’t struck by the wonders of the human body, because they know how it works. I am never swayed by speeches or ads, because I know what goes into them.

But Barack Obama was different. Because when he talked, I actually cared. He wasn’t promising me 4 years of rainbows and sunshine. Hell, he wasn’t even selling himself. His message was that I could make a difference. That, as a group, we still had the power to change the world. But it would take work. Each and every one of us.

It was honest. It was motivational. And it sold me completely. It made me actually care. My whole life I’ve been told that we do our part for change when we vote, and then we leave it up to the guys in Washington. But Obama wasn’t saying that. He said that he wanted us to stay active after that. To get out in the community and the world and do good things.

That’s one of the big differences between him and Clinton. Barack is a community organizer. He believes that change comes from the people to the government. Hillary is a politician. She is saying that change starts with government and filters down to the people.

Here’s the one thing I learned from that Political Science degree. The President isn’t supposed to have a lot of power.. He doesn’t make laws (that would be the congress). He doesn’t determine what is right and wrong (that is the Supreme Court). He isn’t a King. His mission is to set the agenda. To set the nation on a course, and then allow us to follow through with the project.

History’s greatest Presidents (Lincoln, FDR, Kennedy) were the ones who gave us high goals to reach and then had faith that we could reach them. The perfect example of what a President is supposed to do is Kennedy and the space program. He set a crazy goal and then let us run with it until it was a reality. He didn’t micromanage the whole thing or come up with a specific plan on how to build the rockets. He just inspired us to do it.

Barack Obama is able to do that. To inspire us, to move us, and to lead us. I really hope that he is able to capture the nomination, if only so that more people are able to hear him talk and get inspired to have hope in this country. American’s are great people. We deserve a great leader.