Reply #135: Obama & Grass Roots .... [View All]

[H2O Man]

I supported Barack Obama, and still do, because of my appreciation for the type of leadership he can provide. There are, of course, three types of leadership: traditional, systems, and charismatic.

A traditional leader is one, usually found among smaller societies, who does things "the way we always have." The best example of these would be leaders found in pre-industrial communities/tribes.

Systems implies the type of leadership found in larger nation/states. It is the ability to run a bureaucracy. When we think of many of the bland candidates found in the primaries over the decades, we get a clear picture of that type of leader.

Charismatic leaders inspire. They sometimes institute change in their group/society. They include the reformation prophets (such as Malcolm and Martin). Yet, these leaders rarely have the systems skills necessary to make long-term, institutional change. Often, though they can inspire people, there is a disappointment in their failure to make the machine work.

Barack Obama is, of course, a charismatic leader. Every DUer who read his books, or books/articles about his history as a community organizer and politician, should have known both his strengths and weaknesses as a leader. In order to truly institute change, he has to select (bland) systems people who are both intent upon and capable of creating change. Many of us, for example, believe that SoS Clinton has the ability to harness the machine in meaningful ways.

But, there are many, many bland systems parasites in Washington. Some are republicans, others are democrats. The liberal and progressive grass roots forces need to put extreme pressure on them, in order to have any chance of bringing about change. And, as I said back when Obama was in the democratic primaries, we need to increase the pressure on him, in regard to things such as his policy in Afghanistan.