Like many of you, I was reassured, then impressed, then deeply moved by Hillary's speech on Saturday.  But after watching a much quieter speech Obama gave to his Chicago HQ staff on Friday (see link below), it was more clear than ever to me that Obama represents a seachange both in how political campaigns are run, and what politicians represent.

Hillary's speech was classic and powerful: it gave her supporters reason to feel proud of their efforts, while encouraging them to look ahead to a new shared mission.  It opened eyes and lifted hearts and bound wounds. As the son of a single mother, I can appreciate on a very personal level what Hillary's example means to millions of women, and I'm sorry my mom wasn't around to draw inspiration from her words.

But Hillary's speech was also a classic piece of charismatic self-advertisement.  We were told, continually, how she had struggled, how she had fallen and gotten back up, how she was going to continue fighting on for her supporters and her causes.  The emphasis was on what she had accomplished for others, on what she had experienced in the course of that effort, and on her pledge to fight on as a people's champion.

I want to be clear.  As a concession speech, I thought it was pefect.  I believe fighting for average citizens in the political arena, as opposed to simply being out for yourself and your top contributors, is a very good, not a bad thing.  I'm not singling Hillary out for excessively lauding her own accomplishments, or focusing too obsessively on her own role as a prime mover in advancing issues. 

It's just that this celebration of self is what politicians have always strived to do: get people excited, not just about a cause, but about them.  This personalization serves its purpose: it gives people someone to rally around, a face they can identify with, a voice that can amplify their own, a source of inspiration and excitement.  But making politicians celebrities also buys into the dangerous idea that the politician - as the champion in the ring and the grantor of favors - is the source of effective power in our society.  It suggests that politicians are more like rock stars or mob bosses than public servants, that they are special people worthy of celebration, much more so than the many citizens who work tirelessly and anonymously in their own right to make the world a better place. 

What is so startling, and so moving in its quiet way, is how adamantly Obama rejects this tempting self-mythologizing, even as he attracts celebrity-level attention.  He refuses to make himself the living symbol and attention-seeking center of gravity of his own campaign, even though his unprecedented, truly historic organization could not have arisen without him.

 Obama offers up the self-effacing stance of the skilled community organizer and mediator.  He doesn't pretend he brings some unique, personal means of salvation.   But he sincerely believes in, and so inspires, ego submersion and group effort and communal self-help.  In the video below, he praises his staff for the organization they, not he, created.  He asks people to get some rest, but then to come back and work twice as hard, not for him, but for their shared mission. He admits he has made mistakes, and will in the days ahead.  He tells his people that they, too, will not be perfect, but that when things go wrong not to indulge in blame, but to cover for each other, and keep their common goal in mind.

It's no wonder that the Obama volunteers, in their numbers and smart, dedicated enthusiasm, made all the difference this primary season.
 
Politicians -so needy and selfish and glad-handing - rarely are leaders in any recognizable sense.  Obama is the shining exception.  With his sincerity, humility, consistency, inner strength, team-building skills and quiet confidence, he has created a new mold in politics: the inspirational role model as prime mover.  It is an example even Fortune 500 CEO's could learn from, not just other politicians.

But enough about my take.  See for yourself.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/7/233541/1086/910/532016