Can Do

One thing that I can say about Barack Obama is that he has charisma, that gift -- the ability to inspire, which is a quality that is innate. It's just not something that can be learned or mimicked.

With the endorsements from the Kennedy family members (from Caroline to Teddy to Bobby's wife Ethel), the inevitable comparisons to Kennedy will arise. I certainly tend to be cynical (moi?) when it comes to politics most of the time and these last seven years have been destructive in innumerable ways.

However, in my lifetime, I can say that I don't recall any Presidential candidates, other than John F. (and Bobby) Kennedy, that were able to generate the level of enthusiasm among so many in such a heartfelt, positive manner, especially among younger people. Of course, the current hopeless mood of the country, with a hugely unpopular war, a devastating decline in the economy and myriad other negatives on the domestic and international front, leaves people searching for hope for the future. And Obama speaks to that hope.

As I was ready to post this, I ran across Frank Rich's column, Ask Not What J.F.K. Can Do for Obama:

BEFORE John F. Kennedy was a president, a legend, a myth and a poltergeist stalking America’s 2008 campaign, he was an upstart contender seen as a risky bet for the Democratic nomination in 1960.

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J. F. K. had few policy prescriptions beyond Democratic boilerplate (a higher minimum wage, “comprehensive housing legislation”). As his speechwriter Richard Goodwin recalled in his riveting 1988 memoir “Remembering America,” Kennedy’s main task was to prove his political viability. He had to persuade his party that he was not a wealthy dilettante and not “too young, too inexperienced and, above all, too Catholic” to be president.

How did the fairy-tale prince from Camelot vanquish a field of heavyweights led by the longtime liberal warrior Hubert Humphrey? It wasn’t ideas. It certainly wasn’t experience. It wasn’t even the charisma that Kennedy would show off in that fall’s televised duels with Richard Nixon.

Looking back almost 30 years later, Mr. Goodwin summed it up this way: “He had to touch the secret fears and ambivalent longings of the American heart, divine and speak to the desires of a swiftly changing nation — his message grounded on his own intuition of some vague and spreading desire for national renewal.”

In other words, Kennedy needed two things. He needed poetry, and he needed a country with some desire, however vague, for change.

The above video, Yes We Can, also provides resonance to that theory. As noted in Stars Come Out for Obama Music Video:

The music video "Yes We Can" . . . was inspired, will.i.am told ABC's Alisha Davis, by Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign and in particular by the speech he has gave after the New Hampshire primary.

"It made me reflect on the freedoms I have, going to school where I went to school, and the people that came before Obama like Martin Luther King, presidents like Abraham Lincoln that paved the way for me to be sitting here on ABCNews and making a song from Obama's speech," will.i.am said.

"The speech was inspiring about making change in America and I believe what it says and I hope everybody votes," Dylan said.

The music video includes excerpts from the Obama speech and appearances from a range of celebrities including: Scarlett Johansson, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kate Walsh, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Adam Rodriquez, Kelly Hu, Adam Rodriquez, Amber Valetta and Nick Cannon.

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Dylan and will.i.am say they did not coordinate the production or release of this video with the Obama campaign and the filmmakers say they don't even know if Obama is aware of the video.

"We didn't talk to anybody there... We just came together because it was an inspirational song about change coming out of his speech," Dylan said.

And what change do will.i.am and Dylan say they hope to see?

"Education, America's finance, getting our dollar back to where it should be, stopping the war, health and international policies," they said.

As they say: Your lips to God's ears.

UPDATE (2/10): This essay, by The Unknown Candidate, express -- so well -- many of the thoughts that I was trying to convey in this piece, Why I'm Voting For Barack Obama:

There are no perfect choices. But it all boiled down to this: Barack Obama is one of those rare leaders who come around none too often in life. And, thankfully, he has emerged at a time when we desperately need a great leader as opposed to a good politician.

America is disheartened, disillusioned, beaten down and depressed after seven endless years of enduring the results of the worst policies of any President in our history. We have lost faith in our elections and our politicians. We rightfully feel as if someone has pulled the rug out from under everything we once believed made America, well, America. And we do indeed stand at a crossroad in this election.

The best decisions I have made in life were those that came from my gut, not my brain. Admittedly, my decision to support Barack Obama comes from my heart more than from my head. It comes from a deep longing for a return to civility -- not to be confused with compromise -- in America. It comes from a deep longing for a leader who represents positive values, who embraces all Americans, who has the ability to inspire us to WANT to be the best we can be. Barack Obama has that ability. John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther were two of the most influential people in my life because they inspired me on a visceral level to aspire to accomplish what once seemed impossible to attain. They convinced me that real change comes from a belief in our collective selves and that when we pull together, we can do anything. They convinced me to BE THE CHANGE I wanted.

Go read the rest -- it's worth it.

Via Dipdive.com