It is his firm belief, and mine too, that the American people ought to be able to know what the hell is going on in Washington.
Obama plans to air health care negotiations on C-Span, not behind closed doors, right out there where the American public can follow along. He passed legislation with Tom Coburn (R-OK) resulting in a public online federal budget data base of where taxpayers' money is going, showing government contractors, who they are, what they're being paid for what work, and where. It tracks grants and earmarks, too, and will even track subcontractors.
It's right here:
http://www.usaspending.gov/fpds/index.php?reptype=aAnother bill he sponsored requires all legislation introduced in the Senate be posted to the Internet four days before a vote including any attached giveaways or earmarks, and allowing no anonymous changes to conference reports. Some of it was worked into the Feingold-Obama ethics bill that passed.
He's also sponsored election protection legislation requiring states to report performance - rate of ballots discarded or uncounted, machine malfunctions, length of time voters wait on line, number of voters redirected to a different polling place, etc. This would be public information.
There is much more in this vein. I show these few as examples of what I see illustrates a commitment by Obama (and this shows through his Illinois years, as well) to a more transparent and efficient democracy.
Maybe this isn't the sexy stuff to most people, but I think it is very, very important.
But my main point, I think, is that the man is a problem-solver. He sees something broken and takes steps to fix it. He does this by persuasion, by interaction, by raising and receiving common sense solutions. And working with the other side: with Lugar on nuclear proliferation and trying to keep nukes from falling into the hands of terrorists; with Coburn after Katrina to improve oversight of federal spending.
He is a practical, common sense liberal. He wants to get things done and he's not a showboat about it, as he is often painted here at DU. He does the work and if somebody else takes the credit, that's okay. He was known for that trait as an organizer, as a lawyer, and as a legislator.
Now can he also inspire masses of people? We know he can. But that's not everything to me. I want a more productive government.
I've tried to be specific in my answer to show a side of Obama beyond the, dare I say it, great communicator. But maybe his most promising attribute would be bringing the Democrats to an effective majority. He's not getting endorsed by red state governors and legislators for nothing and not because he's a conservative, which he is not. It's because he proved himself in 2006 to be the kind of campaigner that candidates are happy as can be to invite into their districts, one who can reach a broad cross section of Americans with his Democratic ideals and ideas, without scaring the horses.
Above is a response I made to another DUer, but perhaps it will help with your question. I'm on my way out, so I apologize if you respond and I miss it.
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