Style WITH Substance
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| Also listed in: Coloradans for Obama |
Senator Obama's speech this morning gave us all another glimpse of the phenomenal charisma for which he has come to be known. Indeed, like most people who have followed his career, it was that same personal gravity which initially attracted us to him at the Democratic National Convention back in 2004. We were all privileged watch the genesis of a most improbable rise to national prominence. My respect and esteem for him began there and has never ceased.
Not one to leave well enough alone, I continued to follow this captivating man partly out of admiration but also of cynicism. I remember jolting my own nascent hope with thoughts like, �he's all flash, no substance; he'll crumble under tough scrutiny.� So to satisfy these conflicting positions, I made it a point to watch the televised debates between Obama and candidate Alan Keyes for the Illinois senate seat that same election year.
Make no mistake, Alan Keyes was a desperate and ill-chosen salvo fired directly from the Republican party to derail the Obama juggernaut in Illinois. He (candidate Keyes) was not even from Illinois at that time and had to move in state from Maryland to run. That notwithstanding, Alan Keyes was also a top-notch debater, possessed a fine constitutional mind, and was generally an excellent conservative intellectual. For a political geek like me, this debate forum had the makings of a Frazier vs. Ali prizefight.
Watching these debates, I witnessed something I thought impossibleâ�"Alan Keyes was being systematically and utterly dismantled by Obama. It was astonishing. Barack was schooling this worthy mind and making him appear a rank amateur. On issue after issue, the finesse and depth of Obama's mind became clearer and clearer to me. He obviously wasn't all glitz and smiles and pretty words, this man, but a true contender the equal to any policy maker in Washington.
I feel lucky to have seen from the very beginning what we will ALL come to know over the next year and a halfâ�"that Barack Obama possesses that rarest conjunction found in a beltway politician. The mind and substance to effect good policy, as well as the charisma and style to make you believe it.
Not one to leave well enough alone, I continued to follow this captivating man partly out of admiration but also of cynicism. I remember jolting my own nascent hope with thoughts like, �he's all flash, no substance; he'll crumble under tough scrutiny.� So to satisfy these conflicting positions, I made it a point to watch the televised debates between Obama and candidate Alan Keyes for the Illinois senate seat that same election year.
Make no mistake, Alan Keyes was a desperate and ill-chosen salvo fired directly from the Republican party to derail the Obama juggernaut in Illinois. He (candidate Keyes) was not even from Illinois at that time and had to move in state from Maryland to run. That notwithstanding, Alan Keyes was also a top-notch debater, possessed a fine constitutional mind, and was generally an excellent conservative intellectual. For a political geek like me, this debate forum had the makings of a Frazier vs. Ali prizefight.
Watching these debates, I witnessed something I thought impossibleâ�"Alan Keyes was being systematically and utterly dismantled by Obama. It was astonishing. Barack was schooling this worthy mind and making him appear a rank amateur. On issue after issue, the finesse and depth of Obama's mind became clearer and clearer to me. He obviously wasn't all glitz and smiles and pretty words, this man, but a true contender the equal to any policy maker in Washington.
I feel lucky to have seen from the very beginning what we will ALL come to know over the next year and a halfâ�"that Barack Obama possesses that rarest conjunction found in a beltway politician. The mind and substance to effect good policy, as well as the charisma and style to make you believe it.