Today, Barack Obama released a statement regarding his potential run for President in 2008. According to the article, he will be touring the country in order to discover the general feelings of the American public toward his almost inevitable pending campaign. In his official statement, he repeats his long-repeated stance on politics here in America- that in order for our country to continue to thrive and grow, politics must undergo a serious change. These are stong words for a “freshman” senator from Illinois, especially considering that he was soundly beaten in his first run for office. However, Obama is charismatic and seems to be marching to the beat of a different drum than some of his older, stodgier superiors, making him an attractive candidate and leadership figure to today’s youth. Interestingly, he has taken a steadfast stance on the War in Iraq, calling for the removal of troops in stages. Statements similar to these have been released by Obama as of late, putting him in direct opposition to Bush’s recently proposed plan, which calls for the addition of more troops and does not rule out the possibility of even attacking Iran. Obama says, “…we’re still mired in a tragic and costly war that should have never been waged.”
Barack Obama seems to genuinely care about not only his position as a senator of Illinois, but about the people he represents specifically as well. It is refreshing to see a senator that cares (or at least claims to care) about the people (which in all actuality, is what he is supposed to do) to a greater degree than his depth of care for his job. I realize this post and article seems to have nothing to do with English, but I believe it does so on a larger level. As teachers we should be up to date with current information such as music, television, books (like the YA! novels we are reading), so why not discover some in depth information on our students’ possible role models?
This article has special interest with me because I am currently reading his latest book, the sequel to Dreams of my Father. His book (so far) basically outlines his reasons for getting involved in politics, as well as his stance on many key issues argued over politicians currently. The way I see it, the more I know about Obama, a potential leader of our country, the more I can forsee the direction our country (and our students) could be taking.
What makes this article, while it seems to be unrelated to my blog, important to my premise is that Obama seems to have the support of the hip-hop community. Since the hip-hop industry (specifically the artists) have such a strong influence over our students, their support of Obama could lead to a change in students’ thinking. Who knows? Maybe more seniors that are of voting age will actually vote. I know P. Diddy tried the “Rock the Vote” campaign during the last presidential election, but maybe with a stronger force and number of the artists in the hip-hop industry throwing their weight behind Obama our students will actually take an interest in government and maybe even (surprise) their education.
Follow link for full article.
Jan. 16, 2007
