EDITORIAL: Past-perfect Obama

By | Wednesday, August 27, 2008

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Barack Obama's convention line-up contradicts the fresh, Washington outsider, change message he has been touting since the Democratic primaries and caucuses. On Monday night, he kicked off the four-day Democratic extravaganza with a celebration of Sen. Ted Kennedy. While we are deeply saddened by the news of his medical condition and wish him well, Mr. Obama made a mistake in beginning the convention by paying tribute to an elder Democratic statesman whose reputation is stalwartly liberal and partisan. Honoring Mr. Kennedy's achievements could very well have been left for another occasion.

Mr. Obama is in a heated electoral contest in which John McCain continues to close the gap in the polls. The Democratic convention gives Mr. Obama the opportunity to regain the momentum. Instead of beginning a new chapter of the Democratic Party and re-introducing himself to the public, Mr. Obama has chosen to be dwarfed by the former leaders of the Democratic Party. On Monday night, Caroline Kennedy paid a moving, personal tribute to her uncle. Video of the Kennedys was presented, with testimony about the senator's achievements. What were Mr. Obama's campaign managers thinking? How is this going to help Mr. Obama with independent voters or with blue-collar voters?

The video showed Mr. Kennedy, surrounded by family, sailing in a magnificent vessel. Although the voice-over made references to his numerous achievements as a defender of civil rights and the underprivileged, the gorgeous sailing scenery did not connote a party that was in sync with the needs and struggles of middle- and working-class America. It is also symptomatic of the liberal mindset besetting the Obama campaign: the Kennedy "mystique" is long, long gone. And, after all, wasn't Mr. Obama supposed to be showing us something new?

Moreover, Mr. Obama has been under intense pressure to demonstrate that he has sufficient experience to lead - and that he has gravitas, that he can stand on his own. Instead of highlighting Mr. Obama, the convention lineup conveys the senator is a junior member of the Democratic Party who needs to be bolstered by the support of elder members of the party. This was a good strategy during the Democratic primary season, in which the support of the Kennedys and the superdelegates were essential. But now, Mr. Obama needs to come into his own - with a brand all his own.

Michelle Obama was indeed elegant and moving: she began to highlight Mr. Obama and his family. But on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Illinois senator has ceded the floor to the Clintons. This convention appears to be stuck somewhere between the 1960s and1990s.

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