Primary Politics

Last night, I attended an interesting political fundraiser... 'Barack on Broadway', a short collection of song and dance and theatre to benefit Barack Obama's campaign. After the entertainment, Sen. Obama spoke to us for about a half hour.

The speech reinforced why I am drawn to the Senator (he stated his experience may "not be what Washington wants, but it's the experience Washington needs"), but also made me worry. He described himself as an unapologetically optimistic "hope-peddler" who turns down advice to engage in tougher rhetoric against his opponents. But tougher rhetoric makes you stand out, tougher rhetoric may help illuminate the differences in policy between him and his primary opponents. You can be more aggressive politically without getting into personal attacks or ad-hominem arguments.

I personally believe (naively?) that Sen. Obama is the primary candidate with the best shot of taking the general election. I just hope he has what it takes to pummel his way past the Hillary machine to get there. Last night left me audaciously concerned.