The Drive Of Barack Obama

CLEVELAND - Senator Barack Obama's historic election night victory has been highly touted as a landmark event in American History and a pivotal touchstone in the centuries old battle for racial equality.

I believe his win meant far more than that.

While I am acutely aware of the racial implications of Obama becoming the nation's first ever African-American president, I believe it to be more important to take notice of what got him here.

It is absolutely stunning that Obama, as recently as early 2007 (when he announced his candidacy) was largely a public unknown. Sure, many in the political field knew him, but America-at-large had little knowledge of him.

Still very new as a senator from Illinois, Obama struggled to gain public acceptance and credibility for what he was trying to accomplish. Indeed, many African-Americans supported N.Y. senator Hillary Clinton, who had been first lady from 1993 to 2001 and then a popular and respected political figure since leaving the White House.

Obama had no such resume and was often reviled for his lack of experience and short career in politics. In several debates during the Democratic primary, his opponents tried to marginalize him as a candidate, particularly Sen. Clinton. He was seen as a great orator with a naive concept of what he could accomplish as a president.

But he held strong.

In January 2008, Obama finally began to break through after winning the Iowa caucus. Prior to that, he was a long-shot choice for the Democratic nomination with very little funding. When media mogul Oprah Winfrey threw her support behind him, things got miraculously better. Former President Bill Clinton called Obama's campaign "the biggest fairytale [he'd] ever seen."

With so much doubt about Obama, the early months of 2008 saw many in the media try to discredit everything about him. He always spoke so well and convincingly that I believe that most people were simply jealous of such a wondrous idealist. I'm not stupid though. I know that many people were simply expressing legitimate fears about this Johnny-Come-Lately that might someday steer the country.

But I digress.

The infamous Jeremiah Wright-fiasco surfaced on March 13 and threatened to undermine all of the positive will that Obama had built up. The now 67-year old pastor's incendiary and polarizing sermons were seen as totally un-American. With him being Obama's pastor and mentor for more than 20 years, his beliefs and "hate mongering" were seen as an indictment on Obama's judgement and he was summarily taken to task for his association with the man.

A seminal and critically acclaimed speech on U.S. race relations was delivered by Obama in Philadelphia just five days later. But as much as it was hailed, Obama was criticized for not denouncing Wright in stirring fashion. When he finally did, it was seen as too little, too late.

But Obama kept pressing on.

When he stunningly defeated Clinton in early June and became the Democratic nominee, it was seen as an enormous upset. Even still, this is the time when many began to take him seriously.

The general election proved to be an even bigger challenge. Going head-to-head with Republican nominee John McCain, Obama was hit with everything. His affiliation with former 1960's radical and unrepentant terrorist William Ayers was headline news for weeks courtesy of the McCain camp, most notably by V.P. nominee Sarah Palin.

Obama was branded everything from a terrorist and elitist to a socialist and extreme leftist. He was even called a Muslim and Arab. Talk Show hosts such as Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and radio's Rush Limbaugh repeatedly raked the 47-year old senator over the coals and showed him no mercy. Obama had been dismissed as a "media darling" and his every move was torn apart by many, especially The View co-host Elizabeth Hasselbeck.

But he brushed it all off and kept moving.

As McCain's prospects for winning the presidency dwindled, his classless tactics expanded. The GOP launched a series of national "Robo-calls" that randomly called many residents' phones across America with disparaging remarks about Barack Obama. All over the country were bitter Whites that labeled him a "nigger" and even Blacks who labeled him an Uncle Tom.

But he just kept moving forward.

Folks ridiculed his economic policies, especially after the sideshow circus that became Joe the Plumber. When Obama's running mate Joe Biden predicted that "the world will test the mettle of this guy" within six months of his taking office, McCain's people were all over it and turned the comments into an eerie commercial designed to scare Americans from voting or trusting Obama.

But that didn't stop him.

At McCain and Palin rallies, many of their supporters shouted racial epithets and even made violent threats at Obama. On at least four different occasions, the Secret Service and FBI investigated death threats against Obama.

He never flinched.

On election day, a GOP-sponsored group ran national television ads that showed clips of Pastor Wright's most divisive and venomous sermons and juxtaposed his image with Obama's. Just another last-ditch effort to make up for their lack of ingenuity, integrity and creativity.

Ha!

So, it gives me great pleasure to call that young senator "President-elect Obama." Forget race and everything that racism has meant all these years. I wish to hail our next president as being a man of strong character, relentless drive and salute his iconic faith that seems to say, "in spite of anything anyone says or does against you, if you want something bad enough, NOTHING will stop you from getting it."

Just look at his proof.