They just call him Barack Obama.
Senator Barack Obama (D) Illinois, appeared as the star of a rousing February 19th fund-raiser hosted by Senator Barbara Boxer at The Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco's Union Square.
The event drew almost 2,000 people, if not a little more than that number. (And reports with the estimate at 1,000 are just plain wrong. I was there, and I can count.)
What was surprising to me was the number of true voters who turned out. The crowd was most older, white, and liberal, and for the trained eye consisted of some of the Bay Area's most active political citizens. But to be sure, there was a healthy percentage of younger voters as well -- between 20 and 45 years old. And remember all paid between $150 and $2,000, so this wasn't a free event. It sold out the week before it was set to commence.
Personally, I was blown away by Barack Obama. And I've worked for four politicians and donated to several campaigns. Part of Senator Obama's appeal is that he really has his pulse on the problem America faces and that's a belief crisis. Our leaders don't represent us anymore; they stand for their own desires. One doesn't get the impression that Senator Obama has an agenda separate from that of the American People. He knows we're suffering from seeing people killed overseas and going without help in a hurricane-wrecked New Orleans. He knows we're tired of seeing our leaders preside over a vastly imbalanced spread of resources going where they don't help Americans (the Mid East) while people in the South (Louisiana) are still suffering. He gets that we have a massive leadership crisis, yet doesn't step in like Superman, he just has the courage to point his hand in another direction and say "This is where we should go."
I know that's heavy, but it doesn't begin to describe how much people are energized by him and his run for president. It's one thing to hear about it, but you've got to be a part of it to understand.
He's the real deal and with the total knack for saying the right words. All of that is evident in this video.
As a note, you may wonder why I chose the theme song to the television show "Friends." I tried the music as an experiment in part of the video, and was struck by how perfect the message "I'll be there for you" seemed to describe the relationship between Senator Obama and his supporters. The theme, like the Senator's book "The Audacity of Hope" is about hope, and thus is perfect for this video, if not his candidacy.
For more information go to his website at
www.barackobama.com
