I Saw The Future And It's...Barack

It may be a bit dramatic to call Barack Obama the future of the Democratic party, but seeing him speak today at The DNC Black Caucus Delegates meeting was pretty incredible. I've been following him since he laid waste to the rest of the Democratic field in the Illinois Senatorial primary and since then he's raised $10 million for his campaign and has landed the Keynote Address at the Convention Tuesday night...and he's only a State Representative; as Tim Russert noted on Meet The Press on Sunday, this is unprecedented. Granted, he will, in all likelihood become the next Senator from Illinois in November, as his latest potential Republican opponent, Mike Ditka, has declined (you may remember the self-destruction of the original Republican candidate, Jack Ryan, when the unsealed papers of his divorce from Jeri (7 of 9) Ryan revealed his exhibitionist sexual proclivities). But any way you look at it, this is a stratospheric rise. Watch for this guy. His story, his looks and his charisma will no doubt make him a media darling, just as he's already become an icon of the progressive blogosphere. His apprearance on Meet The Press on Sunday

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5488345/

was that of a candidate seeking election in November as well as one who will be representing the party at the convention -- he genuflected to the party apparatus and he watered down his more extreme views so as not to appear controversial. The pragmatists among us understand this and forgive it, we just hope that once he's elected, he can be the model for the new Democratic Party, one that does not run from the term "liberal" and one that unapologetically brings progressive values to the mainstream. (More on the progressive movement in future posts.)

You can learn more aboutBarak Obama here:

http://www.obamaforillinois.com/index.asp?Type=NONE&SEC={8683FB66-C0DB-4FAB-85C7-2FBCF770436E}