He Can Talk and Walk, That Barack

Barack Obama recently made a campaign stop at the Marts Center here at Wilkes University, and I only have one word to sum up the entire experience: incredible. For more than one hour, Barack discussed his policies and implementation of those policies. In my opinion, Barack was more than what people initially think of him, which is a charming speaker with not enough experience to handle the reigns of the White House’s most elite position.

He was charming to the audience, as expected, by listening to their reactions and acting upon them – answering an 8-year-old elementary student’s question of “How can I someday become President” is just one example. Obama was insightful, going into detail from the beginning of his stump speech to answering random questions from an audience. He was also fair, letting the audience take turns by switching between men and women for each question. In addition, he was honest, mentioning several times that we cannot forget the reality of our current situation regarding a plethora of troubling issues, and that we must be willing to invest ourselves in America in order to begin the process of positive change.

No doubt, some people reading this blog entry might still think that Sen. Obama lacks the experience needed to lead our country for the next four years. They would be wrong. Being in a packed gymnasium and listening to Barack give his motivational stump speech will no doubt get your blood pumping. But the man has substance, too.

On the topic of education, which is critical to the college audience that was listening, Barack detailed an intelligent plan that requires students to invest in their country while their country invests in them. To make college expenses cheaper, he has a plan to reward students who give their time for a good deed – a good deed to Barack can be helping at your local soup kitchen, signing up for national service, and giving time to a nursing home just to name a few – with a stipend to offset the college expense. That’s just one part of his detailed plan explained.

Regarding health insurance, I was immensely surprised on his plan to gather his top health care specialists, along with everyday nurses and doctors, and have a round table discussion, with pharmaceutical representatives live on CSPAN. This innovative idea, in which viewers will be able to have input on the health care package, is an attempt to give every person an opportunity to help make the best health care plan for every American. Once again, that’s just one part of his bigger plan for health care.

The issue that especially impressed me was Barack’s idea on alternative fuels. Thank the heavens we have a candidate who truly believes our country needs to start taking a better initiative when it comes to green technology and alternative fuels. I love his idea of expanding every vehicle to require at least 40 mpg in order to reduce our need for oil from foreign countries. In doing so, he proclaimed we would reduce our dependency on the Persian Gulf alone. With that, the price of each gallon will begin to drop. Also, he wants to give each middle and lower class family $1,000 per year to supplement the rising cost of gasoline until we reach his goal of 40 mpg per car.

Barack is a positive spark plug, an already iconic candidate who has all the intangibles needed to become President. Many people use the excuse that he doesn’t have the experience in Congress for the position. But who made an experience standard, anyway? Isn’t 12 years of improvements in the areas Barack has touched proof enough that he should at least get a worthwhile look beyond his stereotype of only being a charming speaker? After his speech at Wilkes, I believe so. And so do the other 1,500 people who attended that morning.

Jamie Gwynn '09
Wilkes University
Communication Studies