Community Organizing

To say the least, it is a bit unusual that so much talk about the 2008 Presidential election results in comparing the qualifications of the Presidential nominee from one party with the Vice Presidential nominee of the other.

Both of these candidates are young and have risen to prominence like no others. Both are dragged into identity politics, mostly by others. Both are pretty and dynamic speakers.

Most of the meaningful debate over qualifications, however, has tried to compare apples to oranges; Governor versus U.S. Senator, Mayor versus state senator, state wide campaign versus national primary campaign. Lots of points can be made, but the scoring system has not been standardized. The Belgian judge gives a 9.5, the East German judge a 3.0. One cannot draw any rational conclusions from that.

There is one area that these two candidates can be likened. That is community organization. One candidate emphasizes it at the top of the resume. Although the other doesn't feature it, it is nonetheless a reality to be analyzed.

In his book Dreams From My Father, Senator Obama states, “When classmates in college asked me just what it was that a community organizer did, I couldn’t answer them directly.” But that was being overly modest. He actually did explain it perfectly. He also said, “Instead, I’d pronounce on the need for change.”

Apparently he also was an effective ecologist. He promoted a group called ACORN that has spread it roots into the very earth to assure voting rights and government subsidies for many fringe groups that have long since marginalized to death. After all, the Declaration of Independence does state, "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men, living or dead, are created equal, that they are endowed by Gaia with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." That's change you can believe in.

This data proves that Barack Obama is a patriotic American who shows all the pertinent qualifications for the Presidency for all Americans.

Vice-Presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, also has community organizational experience. As a member of the Wasilla P.T.A., Ms. Palin organized an effort to provide hall monitors for the local schools and crossing guards for the walkways that schoolchildren took to and from school. Data comparison, before and after, showed that there were significant declines in gum chewing, running in the halls, and tardiness in the schools as well as a 93% decline in the casualty rate of schoolchildren during collisions with dog sleds on the snow covered streets of Wasilla.

Sure, she got palpable results in line with her objectives, but, not once, however, did Palin mention change. None in the community found any reason to hope. Positive results are no substitute for hope. Therefore, her community organizing proved to be unpatriotic and showed only pertinent qualifications for being barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen.

As far as I know, this has been the only truly valid comparison between Senator Obama and Governor Palin. All the others have just been dead air and wasted space. Mine has been mature, analytical, factual, fair, and balanced. Now, knowing all the facts, you decide.