Black Enterprise Endorses Obama for President

I unequivocally endorse Barack Obama to be the next president of the United States.

No one asked if America was ready to see a black man in Major League Baseball. It wasn’t—until the right man, Jackie Robinson, accepted the challenge and made the most of it, and in the process changed our nation forever. Nor did anyone ask if America was ready for the first black CEOs of multinational corporations such as American Express, TimeWarner, or Aetna. When the best candidates for those positions happened to be black, the way was cleared for Kenneth Chenault, Richard Parsons, and Ron Williams. Similarly, Barack Obama is the right person, in the right place, at the right time to be America’s next president.

If we continue to lend credence to the idea that it can’t happen, that we as a nation are not “ready” (whatever that means), then it won’t. The proof of whether America is ready or not should be determined on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008—and not by political pundits or polls.

America needs Obama’s unifying vision. The rap on earlier black presidential contenders, including Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, was that their campaigns ultimately appealed to too narrow a swath of the electorate, dominated primarily by African Americans and liberal voters. Obama’s candidacy and message focus on middle-class tax relief, a commitment to a sensible, phased withdrawal and redeployment of U.S. troops in Iraq, and public-private partnerships to guarantee health insurance coverage for all Americans, which transcends race and political labels.

America needs Obama’s promise of fresh leadership and a new direction. I have a tremendous amount of admiration and respect for the political achievements of both Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. However, I do not put much stock in the value of their experience. Claims to an edge over Obama in this area are exaggerated (Edwards and Clinton never held a national elected office prior to 1999 and 2000, respectively). As far as I’m concerned, their experience only underscores the fact that they are products of the very political status quo they are now pledging to change. Case in point: Of the leading presidential contenders of both major parties, including

Clinton and Edwards, only Obama opposed the 2002 invasion of Iraq from the beginning and remains opposed today. The value of past experience is diminished when dealing with economic, social, and environmental crises America has never faced before. Only Obama can credibly offer solutions predicated not on past political experience of dubious value, but on a desperately needed, forward thinking agenda.

America needs Obama’s capacity to inspire and restore hope. Obama’s candidacy can be viewed as the natural outgrowth of a passion for public service and his desire to move this nation forward. Americans of all races and backgrounds embrace Obama because he is more like them, and identifies more authentically with them, than any
other presidential candidate of either party. And

Obama is unique in his ability to energize younger voters. That’s why his campaign has raised funds from a record 365,000 donors through the first three quarters of 2007. For a nation growing in racial and ethnic diversity, Obama’s life is the authentically American experience of the 2008 election.

The question is not whether America is ready to elect a black man as president. It is whether America will elect the candidate best qualified to lead our country and restore our global standing in the 21st century. If the answer to that question is yes, the next president of the United States will be Barack Obama.

January’s BLACK ENTERPRISE featuring Barack Obama on the cover is on newsstands now.