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Obama: Man of = the World=20

March 6th, 2007 11:41=20 am

side note: he=E2=80=99s a great candidate. but can he beat the = Clinton Machine?!=20 I can tell you this, this NT editor is backing Obama over Clinton, and = the only=20 way i can see that changing=E2=80=A6. is if Gore throws his hat into the = ring. then i=E2=80=99d=20 have a problem. how about a=E2=80=A6Gore/Obama ticket?!

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
http://select.nytimes.com
3D""
The conventional wisdom about Barack Obama is that = he=E2=80=99s smart and=20 charismatic but so inexperienced that we should feel jittery about him = in the=20 Oval Office.

But that view is myopic. In some respects, Mr. Obama is far more = experienced=20 than other presidential candidates.

His experience as an antipoverty organizer in Chicago, for example, = gives him=20 a deep grasp of a crucial 21st-century challenge =E2=80=94 poverty in = America =E2=80=94 that=20 almost all politicians lack. He says that grass-roots experience helps = explain=20 why he favors not only government spending programs, like early = childhood=20 education, but also cultural initiatives, like efforts to promote = responsible=20 fatherhood.

In foreign policy as well, Mr. Obama would bring to the White House = an=20 important experience that most other candidates lack: he has actually = lived=20 abroad. He spent four years as a child in Indonesia and attended schools = in the=20 Indonesian language, which he still speaks.

=E2=80=9CI was a little Jakarta street kid,=E2=80=9D he said in a = wide-ranging interview in=20 his office (excerpts are on my blog, www.nytimes.com/ontheground). He = once got=20 in trouble for making faces during Koran study classes in his elementary = school,=20 but a president is less likely to stereotype Muslims as fanatics = =E2=80=94 and more=20 likely to be aware of their nationalism =E2=80=94 if he once studied the = Koran with=20 them.

Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, = reciting=20 them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that seemed delightfully = uncalculated=20 (it=E2=80=99ll give Alabama voters heart attacks), Mr. Obama described = the call to=20 prayer as =E2=80=9Cone of the prettiest sounds on Earth at = sunset.=E2=80=9D

Moreover, Mr. Obama=E2=80=99s own grandfather in Kenya was a Muslim. = Mr. Obama never=20 met his grandfather and says he isn=E2=80=99t sure if his = grandfather=E2=80=99s two wives were=20 simultaneous or consecutive, or even if he was Sunni or Shiite. (O.K., = maybe Mr.=20 Obama should just give up on Alabama.)

Our biggest mistake since World War II has been a lack of sensitivity = to=20 other people=E2=80=99s nationalism, from Vietnam to Iraq. Perhaps as a = result of his=20 background, Mr. Obama has been unusually sensitive to such issues and to = the=20 need to project respect rather than arrogance. He has consistently shown = great=20 instincts.

Mr. Obama=E2=80=99s visit to Africa last year hit just the right = diplomatic notes. In=20 Kenya, he warmly greeted the president =E2=80=94 but denounced = corruption and went out=20 of his way to visit a bold newspaper that government agents had = ransacked. In=20 South Africa, he respectfully but firmly criticized the = government=E2=80=99s=20 unscientific bungling of the AIDS epidemic. In Chad, he visited Darfur=20 refugees.

=E2=80=9CMy experience growing up in Indonesia or having family in = small villages in=20 Africa =E2=80=94 I think it makes me much more mindful of the importance = of issues like=20 personal security or freedom from corruption,=E2=80=9D he said, adding: = =E2=80=9CI=E2=80=99ve witnessed=20 it in much more direct ways than I think the average American has = witnessed=20 it.=E2=80=9D

As a senator, Mr. Obama has not only seized the issue of nuclear=20 proliferation, but also the question of small arms. For a majority of = the=20 world=E2=80=99s inhabitants, those AK-47s and R.P.G.=E2=80=99s are the = weapons of mass=20 destruction.

So how would an Obama administration differ from the Bill Clinton = presidency=20 in foreign policy? One way, he said, would be a much greater emphasis on = promoting education, health care and development in Africa and other = poor=20 regions =E2=80=94 not just for humanitarian reasons, but also with an = eye to national=20 security.

=E2=80=9CIf we can=E2=80=99t take what, relative to our military = hardware and defense=20 budgets, are a pittance, and put some resources into these areas, we = will not be=20 secure,=E2=80=9D he noted, adding: =E2=80=9CThe Marshall Plan was part = of a security strategy;=20 it wasn=E2=80=99t simply charity.=E2=80=9D

Mr. Obama thumps the White House on trade and foreign investments, = like the=20 Dubai ports deal =E2=80=94 but he isn=E2=80=99t demagogic in the way = that too many Democrats=20 have been. And three years ago, Mr. Obama was quoted in The Chicago = Tribune as=20 making hawkish comments about a military strike on Iran, but in the = interview he=20 pirouetted and noted that one of the lessons of Iraq is that = =E2=80=9Cbeing=20 trigger-happy =E2=80=A6 is a recipe for disaster.=E2=80=9D = That=E2=80=99s a welcome sign of growth.

So, granted, Mr. Obama lacks the extensive experience at top levels = of=20 diplomacy of, say, Dick Cheney or =E2=80=A6 oh, never mind.

What sets Mr. Obama apart is the way his training has been at the = grass-roots=20 rather than in the treetops. And that may be the richest kind of = background of=20 all, yielding not just experience, but also wisdom.
see = original

Posted in Democrats, Standing UP, 2008 = Election by=20 Administrator

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=C2=AB = Aug