Party like a Barack-star

He’s been a senator for two years, and already Barack Obama is making romanticized inroads to the Democratic Party nomination for president, barely into his first term as junior senator of Illinois. Not only are people looking too hard for the next great Democratic president, but Obama needs to focus on his primary job at this time – being a senator for the people of Illinois, a position he has barely begun, in relative terms. He has some good items on his resume for sure, but at this time I don’t think it’s enough to justify commander-in-chief.

Firstly, these associations people are making comparing Obama and Lincoln are a little far-fetched: Just because two people are legislators who didn’t finish out their terms before election time doesn’t mean they are somehow spiritually related. In part, this is because of the desperation of the Democrats to field a strong candidate who is going to get enough votes to meet the oncoming Republican contenders. George W. Bush isn’t running this time, and the whole anti-Bush spiel isn’t going to play out so well without him actually being in office. Supporters are trying to find a way to “prove” that Obama is the next great thing, so slapping his name together with Lincoln seems to be a PR technique to try to get people to get with the groupthink, something easily seen through.

In part, much of his stardom is because Obama is half black, and isn’t Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson. I believe that what Sen. Joe Biden said a couple weeks back in relation to Obama’s demeanor runs deeper among supporters than they will admit: “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” What did he mean by that? “Hey, he’s black and non-threatening.” He’s novel because of that. Honestly, take away Obama’s race – and how exactly does he stand out? Imagine him as a white guy named Mike Smith. The mystique surrounding him would quickly disappear. People would be a lot more unified in saying that his resume is too thin and he hasn’t done enough to justify a presidential run. Anyway, many Obama supporters probably couldn’t tell you his positions, either, other than he’s not Republican. But hey, in an increasingly visual society, looks are everything, and positions matter a lot less than they used to.

Obama is already notable as having spent the most money of any freshman senator on travel and expenses. Senate records show that in 2005 and 2006 he spent about $28,000, whereas his next closest colleague spent about $19,000. Of course, some can argue that the amount of money spent was justified – each of Obama’s trips was evidence of his knowledge and concern with international affairs. I would say these are more indicative of his trying to enhance him presidential resume, and if that is the case, then what he doing is very wrong.

Elected officials have a primary job – and that is to serve the constituents that elected them. Using them as stepping stones exclusively for the sake of getting to higher offices refutes the notion of a representative democracy. An elected official is supposed to be primarily concerned with fulfilling the duties of his office, not looking for a better or more glamorous deal.

If Obama announced his intentions for the White House while running for the senate, then I would say that Illinois voters got what they voted for. I certainly have no problem with people seeking higher offices, but how many people knowingly elected Obama thinking that he would run for president within two years? If John Kerry and John Edwards are of any indication, then Obama may be missing up to half of senate voting sessions once this campaign starts to get serious. Missing that many votes would be a severe disservice to the people of Illinois, and all people who elect their officials are entitled to a full-time legislator. Obama has an obligation to serve out at least his first term in its entirety, or resign so another person can act as a full-time legislator for the people of Illinois before he should consider the presidency. That’s only right.