OBAMA vs. McCAIN: Who's Got Sound Judgment?

In my past blog, I mentioned that Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama should select Sen. Hillary Clinton as his vice-president to make his candidacy strongly supported by all Democrats. However, his ambition to etch a name in the American political history on his own effort, completely separating from any high-ranked official, in the like of former President William Jefferson Clinton, he unfortunately chose Sen. Biden. Now, he is scrambling for defense against his Republican rival John McCain, especially in the issue of sound judgment.

This is how I see the changing polling showdown where Sen. McCain now is slightly ahead of Sen. Obama. Just as many other countries, the good old USofA considers its president as the highest ranking government official. To tell the nation that Obama is choosing Biden for a vice president, because he has more experienced, particularly in foreign relations, has created a negative effect on Obama’s sound judgment. Rather than helping boost his candidacy, he not only turned away the millions of democrats, who cried for him to chose their “political idol” and the “voice of the women”, Sen. Clinton, but he also has told the nation that he is selecting the top-gun on foreign relation, because that is one of his inadequacy and the problem America is facing today. So, inadvertently history is repeating itself this early.

Remember what has happened to the outgoing president? One reason why he chose Richard Chenney was because he also was a top-gun in national security and defense. He has more experienced in national and international politics than the governor turned president. Result? People looked at his decision making lame, heavily dictated by those top-guns around him. People lost confidence; popularity went tumbling down.

Should Sen. Obama had chosen Sen. Hillary Clinton, the decision could have catapulted his candidacy, because he could have said that they have fought tooth and nail all the way to the end during the primaries, it is just fair and unifying for her to be the vice president. Such statement could have placed him at equal footing with his vice president; it couldn’t have placed his ability in foreign relation in question.

Look at the case of Sen. John McCain! He is very wise to select a woman, hoping to tap many of those Clinton supporters and undecided voters to his side. He is very wise to select a not-so-well-known governor to showcase his ability to lead and experience in both national and international issues. Unlike Biden, Governor Palin is an active and experienced cheerleader, who can never out-shadow Sen. McCain’s political prowess. McCain, if ever he’d get elected, would be the commander-in-chief; she would just be a captain of a company, ready and willing to serve anytime, and… a “football mom” (whatever that is).

To contrast his platform of change against McCain’s, Sen. Obama jokingly said in Lebanon, Virginia the other day, “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change, but it still going to stink.”

Nevertheless, what kind of change does not stink in the long-run? Many programs smelled so good when they were implemented, however, with the social, economic, and cultural changes going as fast as a “bullet train”, they soon stink over time. No matter how you identify yourself as an innovator and a radical change agent, you cannot have a change evolve from nothing. As Ruth Benedict’s in her book, Pattern of Culture (1934; 1959:84) wrote, “…men are never inventive enough to make more than minute change. From the point of view of an outsider, the most radical innovation (change) in any culture amount to no more than a minor revision, and it is a common place that prophets have been put to death for the difference between Tweedledum and Tweedledee.”

Sen Hillary Clinton: A Boon to the Democratic Party

Finally, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has delivered her all-out support for Sen. Barack Obama. Now, the democrats are on its way to a healing process, and the battle against the Republican is now in full-swing.

In order to have an overwhelming support by all democrat voters, Sen. Obama must decide who will he invite as his vice president. Being an innovator, who is a take-charge and change leader, he should consider Sen. Clinton as his running mate.

Why?

Sen Clinton is a boon to his leadership and to his future administration. Having a woman, who is a strong innovator, although not as radical, as Sen. Obama would be good for the country. Both like to challenge the status quo, love to explore and investigate new possibilities, and are self-motivated. The image of their future administration would be more unified and balance. American people would have the hope that social issue would be treated wholistically since a woman's perspective would be taken into consideration. To top all that, she readily could seek a smart counsel, 24/7, from a man, who can proudly say, "been-there; done-that", and "if I could just turn back the time, I should have done-this!"

Here's a clerihew for Sen. Clinton to help the Democratic Party decide:

Sen. Hillary R. Clinton

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton
Crushed to the bone, but she'd be a boon
Giddiyup, giddiyup...she gallops as the Vice
Got experience and a spouse who's lot of foreign ties.

edmund melig industan (june 2008)

The Politics of Sen. Barack Obama & The Technology Diffusion Theory

Now that Sen. Barack Obama has garnered the required number of Democratic delegates, he soon can be the official candidate to go against the Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, in the November U.S. Presidential Election. And it cannot be ignored that Obama's platform of change has catapulted him to the top.

Nevertheless, rather than enjoying the win amongst Democrats, he must now put aside mere rhetoric and start framing up the specifics: What-to (change), How-to,and How-does, based on the American democratic principles. He has to win the confidence of Sen. Hillary Clinton's followers, the undecided, the independents, the Green party members, and even the Republican voters, who are disappointed of the present administration.

Since change has been the message of Sen. Obama, I cannot help but think of the Technology Diffusion Theory, which made an American sociologist and communication scholar, Everett M. Rogers, well-known. The theory categorizes members of a society into five groups. Innovator comprises 2.5% of the population. I always consider the senator as an innovator being a young idealist politician, who preaches change. There's the Early Adopter that takes 13.5% of the population. Early Adopter easily adheres to the innovator's idea out of affinity and respect. There's a big number of Early Majority,34%, who only need a slight peer pressure to gain their confidence. Another 34% of the total population comprises the Late Adopter, those people who are skeptical of the change or innovation. They could be those people, who has difficulty to believe that putting a young, historically first African-American (with some affinal connection to Asian nationals)as a president would do any good to improve the lives of the Americans. The last group that comprises 16% of the population are the Laggards, those people who are either very slow to accept change or just don't want a change at all.

Sen. Barack Obama has to act fast, and of course, at his own time, to make up differences with Sen. Hillary Clinton, so as to unify the bruised democratic party. He has to act fast to work on the specifics of his "change" platform, especially that many democrats are still questioning what those changes might be. If Sen. Obama and his advisers could spell-out these specifics as soon as possible, I absolutely would be sure that he would win even the disgruntled Republicans to his side, and would become the first African-American President of the United States of America. And I hope and pray that, once he becomes the president, he would really stand firmly to his promise and deliver a real good change, not only to the U.S of A. but also to the global society.

Now, here is a clerihew, a 4-line rhymed verse that should be funny and satirical.

Sen. Barack Obama.

Presenting to you, Sen. Barack Obama.
Blah-blah...Endorsed by our beloved, Oprah.
African, Caucasian, Indonesian...well, American!
If he'd win, the face at the oval office would historically change, man!

(Note: This clerihew is included in my upcoming book, 150+1 Poems on THE EXPERIMENTAL DASANG (Hey Poem) and 45 OTHER POETRY FORMS: An Anthology.