Desperate Dems Rushing Obama?

Sure sounds like it. This talk of running him in 2008, when he'll be 46, is a little scary. Ever tried to make guacamole with an unripe avocado? You have to throw the whole thing out.

As an independent centrist, I'm as intrigued and encouraged by Obama as anybody. I just hope they don't try to gas-ripen him, or waste him against McCain.

Comments

[JewishAtheist]

Wasn't Clinton 46 in '92? Obama's not a governor like he was, which is a disadvantage, but he's got charisma, which most of the Dems are sorely lacking in. The Dems have to learn to stop sending boring wonks up to slaughter. If Bush can win the general election, Obama certainly could (ignoring race -- I don't know what effect that will have.)

[amba]

Obama seems to transcend race. Partly it's probably because he doesn't give off the familiar cultural cues of an African-American. It's as if the Kenyan and the Kansan in him cancel each other out. When people think they are noticing race, they're really noticing speech and behavior more than they are color.

It's not that he's too young, either according to the Constitution or compared to Clinton or JFK. It's that he's inexperienced in political life compared to both of them. My real fear is that if he runs too early, or against a heavyweight like McCain, he'll lose, and then have the stigma of the loss to overcome. I don't want the Dems to risk wasting him. Sure, comebacks are possible -- Richard Nixon, case in point -- but a loss wastes a lot of time that we haven't got.