By Paul James

Growing up as a kid in the East End of London, I was fascinated by all that the USA had to offer, as were most of the impressionable young generation of my day. The aura pervading the music, movie and sports industries was upon maturity replaced by an appreciation of the economic, political and more pointedly, military eminence the US has on the planet and the influence this nation that comprises but 5% of world population has on each and every human being.

Uncle Sam coughs, the world sneezes.

Naturally, it follows that the President of the United States of America is the most powerful administrative office on the planet.

In this contest a recent opinion poll surveyed by the BBC suggests that Obama leads McCain by a four to one margin. The poll also explored the expected impact of the US election. In 17 of the 22 countries surveyed the most common view is that, if Barack Obama is elected president, America’s relations with the rest of the world are likely to get better. If John McCain is elected, the most common view in 19 countries is that relations will stay about the same as they are now. As things stand now, there is nothing but timid obeisance to American might which is presently being wielded with the recklessness of a bull in a china shop.

Why should this be of consequence to Americans?

Wouldn’t it be nice if the next POTUS could be greeted enthusiastically abroad by cheering crowds like Kennedy or even Reagan were, instead of having the tightly choreographed security extravaganzas that the hugely unpopular incumbent (Bush) does?

Doesn’t it follow that an American President who was popular abroad might be able to accomplish far more than the current administration, which has seen members of the “coalition of the willing” walk away from Iraq, and few countries willing to carry more of the burden in Afghanistan?

Wouldn’t it bode well for the possibility of actually achieving some of the vital and urgent tasks that globally we all must face vis-à-vis energy, our shared environment and the economy?

Weren’t you just plain embarrassed, as I was during the recent debacle in the Caucasus Mountains when McCain appeared to salivate at the prospect of confrontation remarking, rather presumptuously, that we were ‘all Georgians’, i.e., ready to genuflexively kick some Russian butt, Cold War style? Wasn’t it somewhat heartening to hear the pragmatic tones emanating from Obama who criticized Russia’s actions and called for reconstruction aid for Georgia but opined that kicking Moscow out of the G8 would do little good and harm U.S. efforts to work with Russia on other issues?

Barack Obama is symbolic of change; the change the rest of the world is looking for in the US. Of A. Change to a more tolerant, mature society, worthy of the respect it commands. In 2008, as in 2004, Americans need a president who can heal the image wounds of the Bush era. His very being acknowledges the diversity that is America. A Kenyan father and an American mother, born in Hawaii and partly raised in Indonesia his rapprochement with the View From Afar is in diametric opposition to McCain’s, whose direct dealings abroad thus far have come at the figurative point of a gun – a point he emphasizes narcissistically and ad nausea in his stump speeches.

Viewed up close by this naturalized American, I watched the huge party conventions that prelude Election ’08 from suburban Atlanta. I saw the lucid, eloquent and emotive delivery of Obama’s acceptance speech and compared that to the repetitive, self-indulgent and wooden delivery of McCain and said to myself:

“I don’t get it. It’s like chalk and cheese the difference is so stark. Obama should win by a landslide!”

Yet the polls illustrate the large disparity between the View From Afar and the view from within.

I don’t get it.

Paul James is a blogger and IT Professional originally from London, England. He resides in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife, BWFO Founder Patricia Wilson-Smith and their three sons.

Race in the Race

By Patricia Wilson-Smith

It’s been a roller coaster ride. For those of us who have been Obama supporters from Day One, it’s been like being on the world’s largest roller coaster after eating a chili dog from Atlanta’s famed Varsity Restaurant. It’s actually even worse.

First – we endured the looks of confusion on the faces of our friends and family, when we told them we were going to a meeting of Barack Obama volunteers. “Barack what?” was the most frequent response to such a pronouncement. A brief explanation of who Barack Obama was back then, almost always elicited the same response. “Girl, you crazy. This country not gon’ vote fa no black man.”

I can remember it like it was yesterday. Even my 77 year-old mother, turning up her nose at me in disgust over what she perceived as my colossal waste of time – the meetings, the phone calls, the organizing. She accused me of caring more about “that Borock O-bama” than I did her, my house, or my son. Or even my job. And yes, she was sure, with everything in her, that he had no chance of winning the nomination. No chance at all.

But the early supporters endured, all the way through Super Tuesday, when the people of Iowa, most of them white Americans sent a lightning bolt through the country by casting their ballots mostly for the junior Senator from Illinois. The news was a-buzz with the historic nature of what was perceived at the time as a Clinton upset, and everything began to change. Some of my brothers and sisters, my friends and family began to actually ask themselves, “could it really happen?”

But consequently, all manner of new ludicrousness began:

“The Clintons have always been there for black people – what do we know about this dude?”

“He’s not black enough – he don’t care about our issues!”

“A vote for him is a wasted vote!”

“He need to change his name if he wants to even have a chance!”

And my personal favorite…”I can’t vote for that man, they might assassinate him!”

Black people were running into each other emotionally – we didn’t know what to feel or what was coming next. And then the Obama campaign machine proved to us all that not only could he win the primary – he also had a chance – some chance, of winning the election.

How did they do it? In part, by almost completely playing down Senator Obama’s race, and instead opting to highlight his skills as a uniter and change agent. He wowed us all black, white and brown, with his ability to help us see what was possible, and gave us all a reason to feel a hope that was so strong, that by the time the Reverend Jeremiah Wright flap reached it’s climax, we had begun to believe that Senator Obama was uniquely qualified to help begin truly turning the battleship of racial bigotry in this country. It seemed that he might even have had what it took to help the white majority in this country better understand the black condition; why for some, an anger still boils just below the surface, as he did in his now historic speech from Philadelphia. And though it was a rough and rocky road, he made it through and we began to believe even more.

Then, of course, he fought hard and long to make it across the finish line to clinch the nomination. And before I knew it, all the nay-sayers were loudly celebrating, and proclaiming their disbelief over his accomplishment, and daring to believe that this country truly had crossed an important milestone. It was time to look ahead to the General Election, and so many of us had hope in our hearts, and a renewed belief in the progress we’d made as a nation.

More money raised than any campaign in history. A trip abroad that proved he is loved and admired by citizens of other nations in a way that is unprecedented in American politics. And an acceptance speech, given in Denver’s Invesco Field, to over 84,000 supporters, all crowning achievements for a campaign that has been almost flawlessly executed, and that also by the way, stopped one of the most prolific political machines of our time dead in it’s tracks.

And now that we are several weeks into the General Election, a daunting question is again beginning to take center stage amongst the pundits and nightly news media. A question that given the dire nature of our economy, the general distaste for the human and monetary costs of the war in Iraq, the record number of foreclosures, and the general and overriding belief that the nation is heading in the wrong direction, begs for an answer – is race the reason why Senator Obama is not at least 20 points ahead of John McCain in the polls?

I was at Invesco field when Senator Obama gave what was by all accounts an incredible speech. On the way out, as I followed the throng of people exiting the arena, I over heard a conversation between two white gentleman, who, after being suitably impressed by his speech and the flawless execution of the whole night, wondered aloud about the same thing:

“Man, that speech was amazing. That crowd was amazing. I don’t understand why we’re not up by 20 or 30 points in the polls”, said the first gentleman.

“It’s his race, pure and simple”, said the second. “It’s hard to believe, but there are still a lot of people out there that just won’t vote for a black man.”

I could feel tears well up in my eyes. Because it dawned on me at that moment that despite the crowds, despite the miraculous fund-raising, the inspirational and sometimes brilliantly instructional speeches – it might still in the end, come down to how many people in this country can set aside their irrational prejudices in order to do what’s best for the nation. There are no two ways about it – the shockingly low difference in the candidates’ poll numbers in my opinion, bears this out.

It reminds me of one of the most amazing, and yet most chilling movies I’ve ever seen – “A Time To Kill”. In it, Samuel L. Jackson, the father of a young girl, has to stand trial for murdering two white men who had brutally beat and raped his daughter, and left her for dead at the bottom of a lake. By some miracle, the girl was found and saved, but her womb had been destoryed, and she bore outward physical scars, and internal scars that would never go away.

Despite the brutal nature of the crime, Jackson’s character was treated like a vigilante, an angry black man bent on exacting justice against the perpetrators of the horrible crime against his daughter; the white inhabitants of the small town gave hardly a thought to what the little girl had gone through, and wanted Samuel L. to fry for murdering the men who were clearly guilty, and clearly unrepetent. The anguish he must have felt at the thought of what was done to his daughter, the insanity it must have induced never entered most of the town’s minds. Enter Matthew McConaughey.

Matthew McConaughey was Samuel L’s defense attorney. Faced with a jury of all whites, from a southern town where racial disharmony was the norm, and working for a defendant who had in fact murdered the two men in question, the odds were against he and Samuel L. And it looked like it was all but over until he did something extraordinary.

If you saw the movie, you know what he did. He stepped up before the jury, and asked them to use their imaginations to invision the little black girl, as he told the anguished story of what she had endured at the hands of the perpetrators. He described every blow, every atrocity in graphic enough detail to paint a vivid, disturbing picture. And at the end of it all, he asked the jury to picture it, really picture it all – and then imagine that the girl was white.

I’m overcome by the need to do the same thing to the American people. I want to get a bull horn that will reach the rural areas of Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and the farms of Missouri. I want to implore them to imagine a man, who was a genius student, a graduate of Columbia University, who would go on to Harvard, graduate at the top of his class, become the president of the Harvard Law Review. Imagine that that man went on to become a constitutional scholar, and lecturer, and that rather than take the lucrative road to wealth and financial comfort for his family, chose instead to give himself over to a life of service as first an Illinois State Senator, and then a United States Senator. Imagine that this man, through his unique vision for the country, had inspired so many people, that he was literally called to service, and drafted to run for President of the United States. I want ALL of white America to picture it, really picture it all.

And then imagine that he’s black.

On last night, we finally got to see Sarah Palin on the hot seat with ABC’s Charlie Gibson. Forget about your political affiliation – watch THIS video, and tell me that this woman hasn’t been seriously coached on how to answer Charlie’s questions:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD3Yk9RZRF0]

I think Matt Damon said it best – this whole thing is like a bad Disney movie, except if it WERE a bad Disney movie, it would at least end with the mother realizing that her place is with her children, and that she loves her country too much to be used as a political pawn, whose very presence on the ticket might endanger all our futures. What say you, Sarah?

The most disparaging thing about all this is how easily right-wingers can be swayed by someone who, though personally appealing and politically in alignment with their views, has absolutely NO business being considered for the office of Vice President, especially on a ticket where the Presidential candidate is, sorry, old and feeble.  It’s absolutely terrifying. I happen to believe that there is a great deal that goes on at the highest levels of government that protects us, keeps us safe, keeps our way of life on an even keel that we never even know about – and that it takes experienced legislators, operatives, and executives to keep it all working as it should. And look-it, we’ve already taken a chance on a ‘cowboy’ governor who promised to be compassionate, had a shaky, questionable past, but that was tough, and conservative, and who would take such good care of us, and look where that got us.

We cannot be distracted. The bottom line is that there are more Democrats in this country than Republicans, so the real fight is on the ground, getting to un-registered voters and making sure that they get registered and come out to the polls on November 4th.  From the zeal Ms. Palin exhibited in trying to sound knowledgeable and worthy of position she is in, I think we can assume that she won’t be pulling out of the race anytime soon, so it is our job as Obama supporters to continue to fly under the radar and keep the ground game moving as we have been. It’s critical – anything else would mean handing the presidency over to a hot-tempered, war-mongering, ex-playboy and a moose-shooting, book-burning, hockey-mom who can’t tell a foreign policy from a oil rig.

Sarah Palin

By Patricia Wilson-Smith

The Republican Convention has been nothing if not entertaining. I started to skip the whole thing – I thought it would just be too darned hard to watch so many uppity people casting aspersions on my favorite Senator and yours. But I tuned in, and after three nights of truth-bending rhetoric, name calling and selective memory recall from the Republican smash machine, I’m alright. I’m just fine.

It was yesterday, during Sarah Palin’s speech that a deep calm came over me. Somewhere around the time when Ms. Palin began to mock Senator Obama’s background in community organizing. It was then, right then, that I realized that these people either a) have no idea what they’re up against, or b) can’t admit it to themselves. Either way, I’m golden.

Of what do I speak you ask? Well, you heard it – the notion put right out there for the world to see and hear by none other than the unqualified-one herself, Sarah Palin, that Senator Obama’s work as a community organizer consisted of no ‘actual responsibilities’. Which is to say (I guess) that his skills as an organizer have also had no impact on the campaign, or will hold no relevence for his presidency. That’s funny to me. Is it funny to you?

If it isn’t it should be. Way back when, during the days leading up to the hotly contested Texas primary, I found myself in Austin, Texas in a high-rise building phone-banking with total strangers, when Ashley Collier, one of the Obama campaign’s field directors walked up to me and exclaimed excitedly, “Miss Pat, is that you?!?” I had worked with Ashley and many of the other campaign workers in the Atlanta office during the Georgia primary run up. I had helped plan events, held phone-banking nights at the campaign office, etc., and so I had gotten to know Ashley pretty well. 

Space was at a premium in the suite of offices that was the epicenter of Obama campaign activity in Austin. I had had to battle it out with retirees and college students for desk space to spread out the call sheets that I was working from each day. To my delight, Ashley advised me that she shared a small cramped office with two other campaign employees who happened to be out of the office on that particular day, and that she would be happy to let me crash with her to do my work while I was there. I was thrilled – it made me feel like a campaign insider!

I’ll never forget the time I spent with Ashley there that day. We talked about her work on the campaign, the crazy ‘Texas Two-Step’, her thoughts about Obama’s chances, and the empassioned men and women that made up the volunteer corps of the campaign. We talked about the success of Camp Obama, and I mentioned to her how tight a ship the campaign leadership seemed to run. And that’s when she said it – that’s when she said the words that made me realize, really for the first time, the true genius of the man for which I had worked so hard.

“(Paraphrasing) Oh, this is all Barack. He’s running every bit of this campaign – he is a brilliant organizer“.

A brilliant organizer. A brilliant organizer. I’ve never forgotten those words, and knowing what I know now about how Senator Obama has been able to inspire millions of apathetic Americans to get off their butts and get engaged, how he’s amassed more money for his campaign through individual donations than any politician in history, how he’s given birth to a new generation of activists and taught them not only how to get and stay involved, but how to organize to get others involved as well? I can’t do anything BUT laugh at the idea that Republicans would belittle his community organizing skills, since it’s the ultimate organized community that is poised to help him kick John McCain’s butt in November.

Yep. I’m truly gratified. Because, though it is not easy to turn from the train wreck, watching night after night, wanting to look away, but being somehow unable to, I have heard nothing, and I mean NOTHING that could possibly be mistaken as truth, and I know what millions and millions around the country and the world like me know – this is Senator Obama’s time, and no amount of name calling, belittling, or posturing from a chorus of Republican loud-mouths will change that.

And so, little Miss Firearms, go ahead and mock Senator Obama’s community organizing past. While you and your buddies shoot moose and swill beer and have a great laugh, Senator Obama’s organized community will continue to do the work that will push us across the historic finish line to a new direction for this country, and a total rejection of the last eight years of damaging, deceptive, destructive, and divisive Bush policies. Let ‘em say what they want – I’m PROUD to be a part of the organized Obama community, and proud of every bit of the journey that has brought Senator Barack Obama to the edge of history -  including those days in Chicago long ago.