Abbey Road

Remember the buzz about Senator Barack Obama not being black enough to run as the African American candidate for president? Obviously that wasn’t true as the primaries have shown.

But he obviously is not mean enough to fight the same dirty campaign Hillary Clinton would like to draw him into. As Bill Clinton said the other day, getting elected to the White House, ” is a contact sport. If you don’t want to play, don’t put on the uniform.”

I’m afraid everyone is right.

I don’t think Obama is as mean as Hillary or Bill. I also don’t think he’s mean enough to throw every dirty issue possible in Hillary’s face in order to win. I honestly don’t believe his strategy is to win at all costs.

Frankly, I think that’s one of Obama’s strongest character traits.

It may sound silly in this day and age, but I think everyone - at their core - realizes that the American political process is in a severe state of decay. And it’s because of the politics of people like Hillary, a woman who says she knows Washington well and can work her way through the muck if elected.

What she and even supporters of John McCain don’t seem to understand, is that Obama’s message of hope isn’t simply focused on economics. It’s focused on the possibility of change - at long last - to get ourselves out of the electioneering quagmire we’ve managed to imbed ourselves in the past few decades.

We do need a change in Washington. But not simply of governing parties, but of election and representation tactics.

Obama’s strongest suite … he’s a nice guy.

And as such, he might just start a new direction in American politics. Elected officials who actually listen to the people who elected them.