Corinne Ramey

Mark Winston Griffith in Mother Jones: “I Am Barack Obama”

DMI fellow Mark Winston Griffith is in Mother Jones this week. Griffith writes,

"In many ways, I am Barack Obama. I'm a fortysomething black man who attended prep school, an ivy-league university, and graduate school. I have a wife who is not to be messed with and two young children. I've been the "first black president" of a couple of groups and organizations and have worked as a community organizer.

Which is why I am similarly experiencing my own internal civil war over Barack's candidacy. On one side of my brain stands Barack Obama, the inspirational movement builder, the decent human being, the righteous black icon. On the other side is a less compelling candidate—Obama the centrist, the rhetorician, the ideologically elusive.

This contest for my political imagination is not about whether I vote for or against Obama, much less any other presidential contender. It's about what level of importance policy positions and concrete ideas should hold in elections. No one else in the Democratic and Republican primaries has made such a direct appeal to our emotions and other things intangible as Barack Obama. The positions on which Barack is staking his candidacy—"unity," "change we can believe in," "audacity of hope," and "yes we can"—don't show up on any public-policy score cards."

Read the rest of the piece here.

Corinne Ramey: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 10:01 AM, Mar 19, 2008 in Election 2008
Permalink | Email to Friend