Obama Realities

I first saw Barack Obama in action at a press conference about stem cell research where Jenny spoke. I was very much impressed at how directly and clearly he spoke with no weasel words nor escape hatches. He clearly understood the concerns of the other side and directly and respectfully addressed those concerns. I could see that Obama really is a welcome change in government.

Some of Jenny comments in the press conference were quoted in his campaign literature in the race for the US Senate, so we were happy when we accidentally stumbled upon a farewell party for him in Springfield after the election. There were hundreds of people from all political sides. The respect – love – they all had for Obama and his refreshing humanity was palpable. More testimony that Obama is the real thing.

I sat with leaders of the Alzheimer's Association in his office in DC as we told him about the unmet needs for funding of research and programs. I've talked with lots of our legislators in DC on this issue and almost always I can see that their attention is elsewhere so that it's a very good trick to actually get them to hear the message. Not so with Obama, he was fully focused on us and what we were saying and was getting the message right off and was asking excellent questions.

The secret service nickname for Harry Truman was "human being" honoring his refreshing humanity in contrast to the pomposity usually encountered in government. I was reminded of this as we were leaving Obama's office and he warmly thanked us all individually and was relating to us not in the typical automated way but as fellow human beings.

Obama is the real thing. He can lead us to realize the best in ourselves and in our nation.

Don Moyer