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But What Are His Accomplishments?
Sep. 25th, 2008 03:27 amI see that question a lot about Obama.
I don't think the hesitation some people have in answering is due to a lack on his part -- more one on our part. Many people have short attention spans; it's the kind of question that requires digging to answer; and there's the McLuhanesque aspect ("I don't need to memorize that stuff -- I can just look it up online.")
Here's one attempt to answer it, though -- and get it on file so I can look it up in the future. :)
*^*^*
"What I care about is Obama’s resume on what has he done in his past that makes him qualified for President of The United States while we have Russians, Iran, china, N.Korea, Terrorist and the middel East Arabs all looking to do us in.
I’m on the fence tell me..."
I'll be honest. When I hire someone (and that's essentially what we're talking about -- an election is the way We The People hire someone we delegate certain responsibilities to), I don't always hire on the basis of a resume.
Sometimes, what matters far more is what the job candidate shows in the way of initiative, and how they would approach the job.
So, when I saw this interview with Obama in November of 2002, I was very impressed.
At the time, he was a state senator, and not in Washington at all. He had no vested interest or ulterior motive in how he analyzed the situation in Iraq.
Yet he gets every detail right. The stark costs of an occupation. The possibility of civil war. The potential for Iraq to fly apart into factions of Kurds, Shias, and Sunnis -- all three of whom he names.
He also says he would have voted Nay on the Authorization for Use of Force because of worries about giving carte blanche to the administration for a doctrine of preemptive strikes that he wasn't sure set a good precedent.
As someone who admires the idea of limited government, this also has been troubling to me when it comes to Iraq.
And all this was six years ago, before we'd even invaded Iraq.
He nailed it. To an extent many in Washington today still haven't caught up with.
*^*^*
That said, the two-edged sword of his relatively short time in the US Senate is that he doesn't have as much of a record as others to look at. I still think that record is impressive, though:
* There's been his ethics bill, which the Washington Post called, "...the strongest ethics legislation to emerge from Congress yet."
* S. 2590 -- Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 -- this created a searchable database of recipients of federal grants and contracts (at http://www.usaspending.gov/ ). I note that Sarah Palin called for this reform a few days ago -- she didn't seem to know Obama had already done it. I think this may be the most important site for citizen oversight since Newt Gingrich pushed through THOMAS a few years back.
* The Lugar-Obama proliferation and threat reduction initiative -- it strengthened the Nunn-Lugar framework for securing loose nukes in the former Soviet Union, and extended it to securing and destroying stockpiles of conventional arms. Given your concerns about Russia, this might be of particular interest to you.
* A bill aimed at stopping the abuse of no-bid contracts after Katrina.
* A bill requiring for states to prepare disaster evacuation plans that account for the needs of the poor, the disabled, and the elderly in the wake of Katrina.
* S. 1630 -- the National Emergency Family Locator Act. Another post-Katrina bill that passed, one with obvious implications in the chaos of such emergencies.
*^*^*
You say that no one answered you quickly. But this is a web forum, not a chat room, and the speed can vary depending on who is reading at the time.
There's also the question of sincerity. I've seen an awful lot of people say, "What are his accomplishments?" -- and then, when one lists them, one is told, "But none of that stuff matters -- who cares?" I obviously can't say if this matters to you. I can only say that it matters to me.
*^*^*
And then there's the last thing, and it's intangible. Again, it's not the sort of thing one can easily list on a resume.
He gives fearful people hope.
I think one of the biggest problems of the last eight years has been the way fear and dismay have been encouraged from the very top. Do we have challenges and obstacles? Absolutely. But we could have approached them with confidence, thoughtfulness, and a sense that the common everyday citizen has a very real contribution to make.
That hasn't happened.
I've been to an Obama rally.
He gives fearful people hope.
That quality alone goes a long way in my book, especially when people are so needlessly afraid. When added to what he's been able to do in such a short time, I think he's the person for the job. Especially compared to Mr. McCain, whose most recent major piece of legislation, McCain-Feingold, passed in 2002, before Obama got to the Senate. Since then, Mr. McCain has accomplished virtually nothing, besides a 24x7 campaign for President. Obama has done that, and accomplished much in the chamber besides. I think that speaks well about his ability to multitask -- which, given the events of the last few days, is an important consideration.
*^*^*
This post in general owes a lot to Hilzoy, and I make full acknowledgment of that:
http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2008/02/dear-chris-matt.html
I don't think the hesitation some people have in answering is due to a lack on his part -- more one on our part. Many people have short attention spans; it's the kind of question that requires digging to answer; and there's the McLuhanesque aspect ("I don't need to memorize that stuff -- I can just look it up online.")
Here's one attempt to answer it, though -- and get it on file so I can look it up in the future. :)
*^*^*
"What I care about is Obama’s resume on what has he done in his past that makes him qualified for President of The United States while we have Russians, Iran, china, N.Korea, Terrorist and the middel East Arabs all looking to do us in.
I’m on the fence tell me..."
I'll be honest. When I hire someone (and that's essentially what we're talking about -- an election is the way We The People hire someone we delegate certain responsibilities to), I don't always hire on the basis of a resume.
Sometimes, what matters far more is what the job candidate shows in the way of initiative, and how they would approach the job.
So, when I saw this interview with Obama in November of 2002, I was very impressed.
At the time, he was a state senator, and not in Washington at all. He had no vested interest or ulterior motive in how he analyzed the situation in Iraq.
Yet he gets every detail right. The stark costs of an occupation. The possibility of civil war. The potential for Iraq to fly apart into factions of Kurds, Shias, and Sunnis -- all three of whom he names.
He also says he would have voted Nay on the Authorization for Use of Force because of worries about giving carte blanche to the administration for a doctrine of preemptive strikes that he wasn't sure set a good precedent.
As someone who admires the idea of limited government, this also has been troubling to me when it comes to Iraq.
And all this was six years ago, before we'd even invaded Iraq.
He nailed it. To an extent many in Washington today still haven't caught up with.
*^*^*
That said, the two-edged sword of his relatively short time in the US Senate is that he doesn't have as much of a record as others to look at. I still think that record is impressive, though:
* There's been his ethics bill, which the Washington Post called, "...the strongest ethics legislation to emerge from Congress yet."
* S. 2590 -- Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 -- this created a searchable database of recipients of federal grants and contracts (at http://www.usaspending.gov/ ). I note that Sarah Palin called for this reform a few days ago -- she didn't seem to know Obama had already done it. I think this may be the most important site for citizen oversight since Newt Gingrich pushed through THOMAS a few years back.
* The Lugar-Obama proliferation and threat reduction initiative -- it strengthened the Nunn-Lugar framework for securing loose nukes in the former Soviet Union, and extended it to securing and destroying stockpiles of conventional arms. Given your concerns about Russia, this might be of particular interest to you.
* A bill aimed at stopping the abuse of no-bid contracts after Katrina.
* A bill requiring for states to prepare disaster evacuation plans that account for the needs of the poor, the disabled, and the elderly in the wake of Katrina.
* S. 1630 -- the National Emergency Family Locator Act. Another post-Katrina bill that passed, one with obvious implications in the chaos of such emergencies.
*^*^*
You say that no one answered you quickly. But this is a web forum, not a chat room, and the speed can vary depending on who is reading at the time.
There's also the question of sincerity. I've seen an awful lot of people say, "What are his accomplishments?" -- and then, when one lists them, one is told, "But none of that stuff matters -- who cares?" I obviously can't say if this matters to you. I can only say that it matters to me.
*^*^*
And then there's the last thing, and it's intangible. Again, it's not the sort of thing one can easily list on a resume.
He gives fearful people hope.
I think one of the biggest problems of the last eight years has been the way fear and dismay have been encouraged from the very top. Do we have challenges and obstacles? Absolutely. But we could have approached them with confidence, thoughtfulness, and a sense that the common everyday citizen has a very real contribution to make.
That hasn't happened.
I've been to an Obama rally.
He gives fearful people hope.
That quality alone goes a long way in my book, especially when people are so needlessly afraid. When added to what he's been able to do in such a short time, I think he's the person for the job. Especially compared to Mr. McCain, whose most recent major piece of legislation, McCain-Feingold, passed in 2002, before Obama got to the Senate. Since then, Mr. McCain has accomplished virtually nothing, besides a 24x7 campaign for President. Obama has done that, and accomplished much in the chamber besides. I think that speaks well about his ability to multitask -- which, given the events of the last few days, is an important consideration.
*^*^*
This post in general owes a lot to Hilzoy, and I make full acknowledgment of that:
http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2008/02/dear-chris-matt.html
