Obama Has Some Work To Do

I am winding down to the end of the school year. The second to last event (the last being a final faculty meeting) of the end of the year is graduation. To be presentable, I went down to get a haircut from the Filipino woman who I have adopted as my barber. I sat down in the chair in front of CNN, which was blaring news about the end of the Clinton/Obama primary contest.

I, up until this conversation, felt that Obama has the election in November all wrapped up. With the anti-Republican mood throughout the country, winning the Democratic party nomination was the larger obstacle. Assuming he makes no gaffes in the next five months, Obama was going to be our new leader.

However, my barber asked me about my thoughts about Obama and Clinton. Then she started telling me about how important it was for Obama to name Clinton as the vice president. In her opinion, and the people that she knows, Clinton is a name brand, one that carries knowledge and weight throughout the world. To her credit, my barber claimed her disgust with Bush.

I then asked whether it would sufficient for Obama to name another woman to run with him on the ticket. She came back with claims that her relatives in the Philippines are rooting for Clinton and have no idea who Obama is. Because of that she stated emphatically that if Obama didn't name Clinton to become his vice-presidential candidate, she wouldn't go and vote for McCain, but that he just wouldn't vote.

That statement blew my mind. But what it did make me realize is that Obama's great rhetoric and soaring words are probably not accessible to a great portion of the electorate. In addition, I believe that over the course of the next five months, Obama has to work to really introduce himself to that part of the population which doesn't know who he is yet because they have had their hopes pinned on another candidate. It will be tough to win over those who are reluctant to hear his words.

Where do I stand on all this? I initially was a Clinton supporter. Mostly it was because I think it's more important for people to see that a woman can be in a position of power and how different ways of working and issues would be rewarded and emphasized if we had a woman president. However, when the whole issue of the gas tax holiday was discussed, the fact that Clinton supported it and Obama took the time to explain why it was a bad idea, I switched allegiances. Obama was willing to treat us with some respect and be willing to chance that he could speak about policy with some complexity and that the American public would take the time and effort to listen to what he had to say. Boy, do we need more of that in this country.