The Rundown on the Black Knight

Legal Name: Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.

Onyx Name: Barack “Bucket List” Obama

Current Office:  U.S. Junior Senator, Illinois: January 2005 - Present 

Party Affiliation:  Democrat

Unofficial Sect:  Moderate Appeal Using Right-Wing Savvy to Achieve Left-Wing Utopia

No Other Major Candidate: (Do we have to say it?)  Is not white or under 50.

His Current Tagline:

Change We Can Believe In

Onyx’s Tagline for Obama:

A Change Gone Come

Onyx’s Alternative Tagline for Obama:

New Kid on the Block and Head of the Class

Why He’s a Major Contender:  He’s different.  He’s young (46), black, and from an area (Illinois) that addresses rural and urban issues.  Obama is appealing to a variety of constituents on a multitude of levels.  His well-written and pointedly-delivered speeches have a cafeteria-style appeal as he manages to draw in optimists with lofty ideals and more pragmatic hopefuls with detailed plans.  Like other Democrats, he is greatly aided by the disastrous results of George Bush’s administration.

Personal Image Obama is Attempting to Project:  A socially conscious man who shatters stereotypes as a by-product of achieving his own goals.  He walks a fine line of being the kind of man who accepts and loves his blackness without leaning on it as a crutch.

What We See:  A driven brother who is savvy enough to benefit from the race card because it’s not his trump card.  Obama does have an impressive record of humanitarianism, but we don’t think for a second that he doesn’t take action without evaluation of political benefit. For Obama, acts of the head and the heart are never disconnected.  This doesn’t make him a bad or selfish person, but we do believe that he lost his political naiveté a while ago.

Political Image He’s Attempting to Project: We’ve all heard it – he’s a “uniter” of the American people because he truly views and uses his authority as an elected official to serve his constituents.  He is a threat to the status quo due to his honesty and larger plan to elevate all major areas of life in America.  He follows through with his promises and finds ways to have people of both parties help him to do so.  He is the best of all worlds.

What We See:

Here’s what we thought at first: Obama was benefiting from momentum, the anti-Hillary backlash certain people have nursed for decades and money that began pouring in as soon as Oprah gave him her endorsement.  We listened to his initial speeches and unlike a lot of people – were not moved.  He is indeed eloquent, articulate and passionate.  Still, some of his most crowd pleasing lines were hokey and tailor made for optimists rather than realists or cynics.  We were, and remain, cool on his repetitive claims that he would never have voted for the war in Iraq.  It’s not that we don’t believe him; it’s just that it’s easy to make such a claim AFTER the fact.  The bottom line was that he couldn’t make that decision, so he gets no political capital for an option he had no power to exercise.  Finally, where the hell were the damn details?  It seemed like he was trying to please everyone and many of his public appearances were attacking what people who had a longer Congressional record had done rather than stating EXACTLY how he would make these grand, sweeping changes he kept promising.  Turning to many (not all) of his black supporters didn’t help.   When we posed the question, “Why Obama?”   We got a range of answers, including, “Cause he’s a brother – case closed.”  “He’s not white.” “His speeches are tight.”  “Well the white folks have really taken to him, so he can probably win.”  Uh-huh.  And our personal favorite:  “He’s a Leo!”  We shit you not.

Here’s what we think now:  Obama must know what he’s doing, because the name of the presidential game is to get votes and most American people want inspiration rather than concrete outlines.  This is not a nation of thinkers.  Sorry, it’s true. So we actually had to stop listening to Obama’s sound bites and his supporters.  That’s when we learned what we needed to know.  We reviewed his listing of central campaign issues just like everyone else’s and had to take pause.  We admit it.   This is a man with a plan.  Several, in fact.  There’s the old adage that if you’re black you have to be twice as good to be taken half as seriously.  Whether he believes this or not, Obama has a laundry-list of 20 issues.  And nearly all of them have several pages of detail.   His plans are thorough, extensive, all-encompassing and for the most part a departure from legislative norms.  This is a bold and risky layout.  Accomplishing just 10% of it would bring about the change he never tires of touting.  Yet when you fail to fulfill a detailed promise, it’s easier to pinpoint what you didn’t do.

Most sections include a three to eight page attachment with further details.  Will the average voter read everything or most of it?  No, of course not.  But for someone looking to explain why they are supporting him, he gives them plenty of ammunition. Below is our attempt to simplify the labyrinth of Obama’s issues.

I. Puttin’ It Out There – Wake Up Call

• Civil Rights (He hits all the biggies: racial profiling, suppressing minority votes, rise in hate crimes, prison sentencing disparities and more.  The bottom line is that in his opening (alphabetized) issue, he states that the American playing field is so far from “level,” that minorities are falling off the slope.)
  
  
• Education (He starts in on supporting rather than punishing low-performing schools, and highlights education beyond the classroom along with math/science and concrete upgrades for teachers.  Most powerful is direct acknowledgement of drop out rates.  Did we mention him eliminating the FAFSA form?)
  
  
• Homeland Security (Specific revision of the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act and focus on restoring Habeas Corpus for all is not groundbreaking.  However, his attentive detail on various forms of domestic infrastructure beyond defense is noteworthy.)
  
  
• Poverty (Props to him for having this as its own section.  His focus on the working poor and tying poverty to insufficient rather than no wages is unique.  He boldly inserts issues with ex-cons being given a chance to re-enter society.)
  
  
• Rural (Three things stick out on this one.  1 – Thorough acknowledgement of corporate farms getting the real rural benefits.  2 – Bringing in broadband access.  3 – Someone FINALLY said it – the problem of meth labs.)
  
  
• Service (His personal background truly comes out on this one.  Hard numbers are provided regarding Peace Corps and about three other types of Corps.  Making service profitable for college students and the average citizen is innovative.)
  
  
• Technology (His age is showing, but in a good way.  There’s a longer listing than we can get into here, but the major issues for us are addressing the lack of diversity in media ownership and appointing a Chief Technology Officer.)

II. Shared Democrat Promises with ‘Bama Distinction

• Disabilities (All Democratic candidates address the disabled in some capacity, but he highlights them.)
  
  
• Economy (He finesses on this one.  It’s really a hodgepodge of policy from other major issues and focuses on saving money through tax cuts – for everyone but the wealthy – and helping the low and lower middle class (below $50,000).  There’s more, such as taking on China and ADMITTING that globalization will inevitably cost more jobs.)
  
  
• Energy and Environment (Review it if you’d like – very specified, extremely long-term and quite optimistic.)
  
  
• Ethics (Directly addresses no-bid contracts and elaborates on issue of appointed officials having ties with businesses that could benefit from their position.  Like all Dems, he’s big on more transparency and getting rid of the secrecy Bush/Cheney conjured up.)
  
  
• Iraq (He’s got a plan for troop withdrawal, but allows for more troops being sent in certain situations.  Doesn’t want to shut out Syria and Iran and has specified amount to provide refugees.)
  
  
• Seniors and Social Security (Even though blacks in this age category are the least likely to vote for Obama, he’s got all kinds of goodies lined up for them.  He tackles a broad range as he mentions pensions (old school) and having Social Security “solvent” for another 50 years.  He’s got the Gen X and Yers listening too.)
  
  
• Veterans (Everyone has plans lined up for Veterans.  He’s specific on reversing legislation that reclassified veterans who had the nerve to secure modest employment.)

III.  Working Both Sides of the Aisle

• Faith (We could have passed on this one, as it was a strategic “unifier” section.  Just a bunch of quotes from various speeches, but letting folks know he isn’t a non-believer.)
  
  
• Immigration (He’s straddling the fence on this one – pun intended.  He’s for a secure border, giving peeps economic incentive to stay in Mexico and does acknowledge that immigrants come from elsewhere.  Controversy comes in letting current illegals pay a fine and wait a bit longer for citizenship processing.  He supported them having driver’s licenses in Illinois.  We ponder how that would play out elsewhere.)
  
  
• Foreign Policy (Strengthening the military, NATO and the kind of American Diplomacy that would lessen the need for both.)

Onyx’s “Issues” with Obama’s “Issues”: There are too many.  We have a vague understanding of what he is campaigning to walk into and there is not enough room for all of this.  It’s here that his ambition (we won’t call it hubris) shows in light of his inexperience.  Can he get all of this done in eight years?  No.  But many of the timetables he provides are projected to reach fruition long after his reign would be over.  Now factor in Iraq, being the clean-up person for Bush, legislative gridlock and security issues.  He HAS to have heightened security for obvious reasons.  Foreign policy is essentially new territory for Obama (and some other candidates).  People are worried about a black Head of State not being respected in his own country.  Granted.  And then, there’s the world stage.  It ain’t Harvard ladies and gentlemen.  But is he up for what’s ahead?  Whatever we may think, it’s clear that he believes in his heart and mind that he is.  That counts more.

Who Will Benefit Most from His Presidential Reign:  Corporations (make no mistake), entrepreneurs, low-income, lower-middle income people with dependents, minorities (duh), women (by default, not intention – they’ll be thrown in with minorities), non-violent offenders, progressives and oddly enough, youth. If he wins, right-wing fundamentalists and hate mongers will draw more recruits, but even their dispirited opponents will be reinvigorated.

The Best Thing We Can Say About Obama: He understands that benefiting all Americans comes at the price of benefiting the disadvantaged as a necessary expense. He doesn’t shy away from the disparaging role of race on any issue.

The Most Truthful Thing We Can Say About Obama:  He has his head squarely on his shoulders and wants to live up to the top billing he’s now garnering.  He will inevitably give way on some major issues, as politics makes this unavoidable, but we can’t take a guess as to what, how, when or under what circumstances. (Some would argue he already has in terms of Iran.)  We understand politics, but are disappointed that he’s minimizing the historic value of Hilary’s potential presidency in comparison to his own.  Still, he is the most viable black candidate to seek the nomination and in different ways, the most innovative candidate of any race.  Shirley Chisholm was a woman running in a different era and Jesse Jackson held no elected office.  We’d like Obama to have a little more wrangling experience in Congress and we’d like someone else to get stuck with the leftover blame from Bush’s guffaws.  But we are extremely impressed with his policy, more so than his speeches or his books, and even if he didn’t win – it’s a great experience for him.  But it’s a greater experience for this country.

His “Democratic” Features:  All the standards, plus some extras.

His “Republican” Features:  Role of corporations in sustaining the economy, though he has some measures to decrease a portion of their dominion.

Most Dangerous Element:  He is an educated, self-assured, attractive black man with astronomical fundraising potential and a growing track record of legislative bi-partisanship.  That’s the good danger.  On the other end is a denial or rebuff concerning the value that can come with more Congressional experience.  It’s foolish and unnecessary, as his talents are capable of outweighing his lack of time in that particular office.  On more than one occasion, he’s referred pointedly to what he did in college – cancel that!  If ANY OTHER candidate leaned in any significant way on their collegiate record, we’d ream them.  He and his supporters need to be cool with the fact that he’s a gander among geese on this issue.

WE HAD TO MIX UP THE NEXT SECTION FOR OBVIOUS REASONS

Top 5 Reasons That Some Blacks Won’t Vote for Obama:

5. 5) His name sounds too “foreign”. (We’ve heard this from more folks than we can count.)

4. 4) They’ve been waiting to vote for Hillary since she was elected to the Senate.

3. 3) He’s “too black” or “not black enough” according to their personal definition.

2. 2) They’re inexplicably leery of any black man who gets that kind of money and media so “quickly”.

1. 1) Fear of any or all of the following:

• A black man making mistakes in such a visible position.
• Obama and his family’s safety at home and abroad.
• Viciousness of Republican backlash.
• Not voting for a viable female candidate while they have the chance.

Top 5 Reasons That Many Blacks Will Vote for Obama:

5. 5) They can’t believe his name is on the ballot!  It’s been 20 years (a full generation) since an African American was a top contender for the Democratic nomination.
7. 4) They knew (and liked) who he was before his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

3. 3) They’re feeling his Congressional track record (all two years of it), which led them to do their homework on his Illinois State Senate track record.

2. 2) They believe he has a better chance of beating a Republican than Hillary Clinton.

1. 1) They think he’s the best person for the job and love that he happens to be black and have a black wife.

Why Onyx Cranium Thinks Blacks Should Vote for Obama:  His potential to make change in even a few key areas that he outlines is much more impressive to us than his potential to make history (but we’ll take that too).

Want to Know More About Obama?  Visit: http://www.barackobama.com/index.php