Barack Obama’s rise through the rough-and-tumble politics of Chicago, his victory over a well-heeled and well-known front-runner and his ability to draw out new voters in droves shows character aspects of a great president.
That was the gist of a panel of two Obama supporters and a presidential historian in Denver on Wednesday as they discussed the personal qualities it takes to distinguish the best from the Oval Office. Obama may be young and somewhat untested on a national level, but his actions so far show promise, they concluded.
Rep. Rahm Emanual, an Illinois politician who is chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, argued that Obama’s ability to take on Chicago politics proves he is a worthy adversary.
“It is treacherous waters and it builds something for you,” Emanuel said at a discussion sponsored by the Denver Post, Politico and Yahoo! “Chicago is famous for its politics because it’s upfront in its style and I mean that also in its substance. He went from a loss, then came back and then is advancing.”
Obama, who lost a bid for Congress before securing his Senate seat, can and will showcase his abilities even more on Thursday night as he accepts the presidential nomination at Invesco Field at Mile High before some 70,000 people and a television audience of millions, Emanuel added. The speech should be more about empathizing with the public than introducing himself, Emanuel said.
The panelists also argued that a lack of time in elected office hasn’t precluded previous leaders from gaining a reputation as one of the best.
“As for experience, arguably the greatest president in all history, Abraham Lincoln, had two years experience when he ran for president,” former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, an Obama national co-chairman, said. Lincoln served two years in the House before losing a Senate race and later won two terms as president.
Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for the McCain campaign interviewed later, scoffed at the notion.
“The fact that his campaign co-chair is forced to cite Barack Obama’s political ambition as the best example of his experience. Well, it kind of makes our point. Whether he’s opposing an ‘all of the above’ approach to our energy crisis or proposing job killing tax increases during a down economy, Barack Obama has shown he doesn’t have the experience to be ready.”
Michael Beschloss, a leading presidential historian, noted that previous presidents have come on varying paths to the White House.
“If you go through presidents and look what make the great ones, probably a length of time in the United States Congress doesn’t help too much, same with governorships,” he said.
The more important qualities are a strong message and the ability to galvanize the public around that message, and the ability to push legislation through Congress. Those who haven’t served under the Capitol dome may not have the latter skill, he added, “but that’s talent that a president can hire.”
Emanuel did offer some praise – if one would call it that – when asked by Politico Editor in Chief John Harris to name one thing the presumptive GOP nominee John McCain had done well in the campaign.
The Illinois congressman said the McCain camp was successful in bringing up the race card and making it seem like Obama had played it. McCain officials had said Obama, who is black, was using race as a factor in the campaign when he said that the Republicans were scaring away potential voters because he doesn’t look like the presidents on U.S. currency.
“They successfully got the issue introduced and blamed the other side for introducing it,” Emanuel said. “They got the goods through customs. They blamed Barrack for race.”
