Actually, they've been stewing in the septic tank of my mind for several weeks. There is no common thread that I'm aware of, but here's a list of stuff that I've been looking for a hook to anchor too...
Obama - I've been reading and listening to a lot of criticism about Obama and his lack of a stand on this or formal position on that. Of course, everything he has "taken a stand" on, he's been hacked to threads. It's a classic lose-lose proposition, for any candidate really.
I was really impressed with my Dad's involvement in local politics recently. His energy and commitment to do more than just piss and moan (scream in the darkness) inspired me to get involved this time around. So rather than wait around and then just vote for "the lesser of two evils", I decided that I would get involved in a presidential campaign. This is actually not my first time to campaign for a presidential candidate - when I was 6, my sitter was part of McGovern's campaign and I remember going door-to-door with her and the bumper stickers and all that. I seem to recall candidate trading cards even, although I don't think I had one for McGovern. Anyway, you might recall the results of that election and say that I must have taken that loss personally indeed...
But this time, for the first time as an authorized "grown-up", I've decided that I'm going to pick a candidate and do everything I could locally to get him into office. No waiting for front runners, seeing who is polling well. I went back to the last few times I've been inspired by politics and came up with Robert Kennedy Jr. (his Rolling Stone article on the election scandel in Florida was fanastic journalism) and Barack Obama. Since Bobby Jr. isn't running, I went with my first choice.
I recall seeing Obama's address at the DNC in 2004. I watched it live and was floored. I was in fact inspired. And everything I've learned about him since has done nothing to demean my first impression. So I'm starting to think about how to explain what I saw in him that first time and what I think anyone will see if they look, read and judge for themselves.
Here it is. People will complain about his lack of experience, his unauthentic blackness, his verbal contradictions and the like. This is mostly professional opinioneers that make these comments, but they influence what people think and so there perceptions need to be addressed on some level. When I go back to people that I've known personally who have been successful I find certain traits repeated over and over. This got me to thinking that many people might have similar experiences with people that they found strong leaders. So my response to the jabs of professional talking heads is, in my mind, what do you want in a president?
When I answer that question for myself, I think a lot about vision. Vision of how something can be, not how it is. Someone that can see things for what they are but isn't stuck in past failures or recriminations. Vision is the distillation of this trait, and in my slim tour of the corporate world, it is the dominant trait I've seen in effective leaders. So what do I want in a president? I want a person that will:
a) Avoid being "bought" by particular interests. Better they be bought by everyone.
b) Won't pretend to have all the answers, or even a necessarily a plan other than to sit down with people of different opinions who are subject matter experts and look at what is possible and what will be important for generations to come.
c) Offer a compelling vision of what is possible through hard work, determination and self-sacrifice and challenge the citizens of the United States to stand and deliver on that dream.
d) Be lucid and coherent on the variety of problems facing the world today.
These are just a few thoughts. I write them here so I don't forget them and so others might offer up their own. I had a conversation yesterday with folks that are undecided and could feel my own passion start to grow at the idea that I could influence their decision by getting them to think about the question, "what do you want in a president?"
As to my other thoughts, I'm out of gas. So I'm not going to change the title of this post to compensate and bury that fact - hopefully I'll be reminded of some of those at a latter date.
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