Barack Obama’s Rose-colored Glasses

Many have attributed his success to:

• Charisma
• Eloquence
• Authenticity
• Campaign Strategists
• Management Skills

Frankly, I too had been a bit confused about the Obama phenomena. That is, I was confused until last Tuesday night’s Wisconsin and Hawaii primaries. That night, while listening to Obama’s victory speech after he’d won Wisconsin, any lack of clarity I still possessed burned away like fog in a hot sun.

It became abundantly clear to me that although each of the above elements plays an important role in the candidate’s success, it is his eloquence that propelled him past other Democratic candidates, and still drives his campaign train. And, by eloquence, I don’t simply mean his ability to speak articulately, but rather his ability to:

• Convey ideas simply and understandably
• Generate excitement and belief in those ideas, and
• Genuinely touch people’s emotions

In my opinion, it is exactly because of Obama’s ability to inspire, excite, and activate voters with his speeches that he came under fire with the accusation of plagiarism. I imagine his opponent was also inspired … to do something, anything to debunk Obama’s speech-making ability; and as a result launched an embarrassing, failed attempt to discredit him.

In the CNN debate last Thursday evening, Obama, after giving an explanation of his usage of what he described as a couple of sentences in a speech he has given (or, some version of the speech) a number of times over the last two years, he shrugged the plagiarism accusation off saying …”This is when we enter the silly season of politics.”

Now, getting back to my own season of revelation during Tuesday’s primaries: it came late in the evening while Obama was giving his victory speech. There it was, one of those “defining moments” when all the pieces in a nagging puzzle finally falls into place. A moment of such piercing clarity, I was baffled that I hadn’t seen it sooner.

In the speech, Obama addressed his ability to maintain hope in the face of numerous negatives … he was, among other occasions, referencing his arrival in the nation’s Capital when many colleagues who, because of his optimism, treated him as if he wasn’t in complete grasp of reality. About Washington in general he said,

“Washington is a place where good ideas go to die.”

About his reception by the Washington players, he said their response to him was …

“We need to season him a little bit more - boil the hope out of him.”

As well, his colleagues used words and phrases like … “Naive”, “He needs a reality check”, and “False hope”, to describe his perspective.

It was at this point in his speech that my mind involuntarily traveled back to a time when I had shared a similar experience. Although currently back in the states, it was a time when I had relocated to an island in the Caribbean.

Applying for work as a freelance writer for the island’s major newspaper, I followed the instructions of the paper’s editor and submitted an article for consideration that was based on an aspect of island life.

Well, about a week later, I received a nicely written letter of rejection. I was summarily informed by the editor that although my writing was excellent, I was still wearing rose colored glasses when it came to the island. I guess, the implication being that I hadn’t reached a level of cynicism sufficient to allow me to focus on the island’s problems rather than its many positive attributes. I was a “Johnnie Come Lately” who was so excited, I wasn’t objective about my surroundings …and as such was of no possible use to a hard-driving, reality based, newspaper.

In reality, I did see the challenges of the “business as usual” government that was in place; I did see the social problems like poverty and teen pregnancy. But, I, like the people of the island had hope; hope that at some point the right combination of elected officials and public will would help solve these problems. We had hope that these challenges would never grow larger in scope than the island”s incredible beauty; the indomitable spirit of its people; or its amazing history and culture.

Certainly, I was disappointed at not getting the job, but I couldn’t change who I was and made no attempt to influence the decision; I simply began writing for other island publications.

Ironically, several years later, after that particular editor decided to step down from a command that had lasted many years, I would end up working for that same newspaper. Through no action of my own, but based on articles I had written over the years for various island publications, I was invited to work as a freelance writer, and for several years wrote a weekly column and did special assignment reporting for the newspaper.

At the conclusion of Obama’s speech that night, I considered how he had evoked the memory of my rejection that time. Suddenly, I remembered a comment I’d read on one of the social websites regarding a poem, and as I reflected on that comment I knew I had hit on at least one secret to Obama’s speech-making prowess.

The comment came from a fan of a prolific poet regarding one of his poems. She described how the poem had affected her, concluding … “I know that’s probably not what you meant, but it’s how it made me feel. And maybe, that’s why your poetry is so special. It touches each of us in the way we need to be touched.”

And, that I believe is a key to Obama’s success: speeches that touch each individual in the way they need to be touched. Speeches that touch on hopes, dreams and experiences, not en mass, but personally, individually. As well, Obama’s rose colored glasses are clearly in place as he expresses:

• Hope that change can happen
• Belief that change will happen
• Commitment that will make change happen

Out on the stump leading up to the last Democratic Debate this past Tuesday, Obama’s opponent ridiculed him saying, hope is not enough. In one of her speeches she said,

“The sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will sing, …”

It is ludicrous to ridicule hope and inspiration, but that’s exactly what was happening. Obama probably felt as he had when he first encountered Washington politics, however I have a suggestion for the Senator from Illinois.

I find myself still in possession of a few extra pair of rose colored glasses. He is more then welcome to borrow them and pass them around to those who seem to be in serious need of some hope and inspiration.