Obama the Phenomena

They braved icy roads, blowing snow and temperatures of 5 degrees in Wisconsin to vote in that historically important primary. They gathered in warm Hawaii in caucuses that for probably the first time would mean something for a nomination.

They voted in unprecedented numbers, as they had previously in other states all over the United States. And with each primary and caucus, more Americans of every demographic group in all parts of the country are voting for Barack Obama. The results in Wisconsin and Hawaii indicate that America has turned a page, and the question is no longer whether Barack Obama will be the 2008 Democratic Party candidate for President, but when.

In the midst of all this, there is the fact that we cannot quite grasp: that this is not a campaign, but a phenomenon. It's not just the history that's being made. Obama has just won nearly 60% of the primary votes cast in a state in which all non-white minorities don't add up to 10% of the population put together.

And though I feel echoes of the JFK campaign in 1960 and RFK in 1968, the reality is that in my lifetime there has never been anything remotely like this.

I cannot quite believe our luck. Not only am I convinced that in Barack Obama we have the perfect President for our time. But he is running an astonishingly coherent campaign that states and embodies a premise for governing. So Americans are not just voting for him, they are voting for how we will proceed. If he is elected, he will enter office with the most explicit mandate in my lifetime. And with that mandate comes the political power to pursue the change he advocates. Not only the programs he advocates, but how he will pursue those objectives. He is forging a bond with voters that, together with his power to communicate with those voters, can provide him with the political power to make changes and bring America with him, as he maps out ways to meet the terrible challenges of the present, to save the future.

He inspires with rhetoric and rhythm, but also with precisely articulated logic and intelligence. He wears leadership lightly, without a hint of demagoguery I can detect. He doesn't just evoke hope--he makes an ardent argument for its necessity.

Yet even more amazing than this is how people are responding to his call. I am so used to the American electorate missing the point. The response to Obama, in its depth and width and breadth, already proves one of his central contentions: that the time is now. This is the election for change.

It's more than a "throw the bums out" revulsion for the past 8 years, though that is a mighty part of it. It's something about Obama that clears the mind and clearly touches the hearts of so many people. That connection, especially with specific groups within the population, like young people, is also a potential source of power for change.

Things will get complicated--and tested-- soon enough. For now, this is a wonderful ride, with a potential that could be equal to the challenges, that might yet save the future. Three months ago, I couldn't even have imagined this.