In the last few weeks, everyone is talking about Obama. Obama, Obama, Obama. Blah blah blah!
I will admit, the man is popular. He is a person that the press clings to. Why? I still have no friggen clue, but they do. Oh yeah, I forgot, they told us that he was going to have a good speech before they even heard or read it. They think Democrats are sheep, and I honestly think we are!
But this past weekend I went to the movies and watched the movie “Bobby”. Just a litte note on the movie though; if you think it is about Bobby, you are wrong. About 10% of it deals with Bobby Kennedy. I left very disappointed.
Still, watching the movie made me realize something.
Well, there is a difference between being a popular politician and, what I would consider a powerful politician.
In our lifetime, or many lifetimes before ours, there have been extremely few politicians that I would consider powerful.
And watching the movie Bobby, I realized the difference.
Barack Obama, along with Bill Clinton and, yes, John F. Kennedy, were popular. People liked to see them, they liked to see them speak. They liked to be in their presence so that they could say “I met so-and-so”.
But in the case of Robert Francis Kennedy, the man was powerful. Did he become a powerful politican because of the death of his brother? Maybe. But still, he was a powerful man.
It all started with the Democratic National Convention in 1964. When Bobby came to speak, the crowd stood and applauded him for 22 minutes.
After 1964, Bobby went around the nation as the new Senator from New York and saw how the people of the nation lived and wanted to know their problems. And, unlike so many politican, who act like they care about someone, but appear to be phony (Bill Clinton), one could tell that Bobby Kennedy really cared about the people of this country.
There is one clip of Bobby Kennedy that I remember really well. I don’t remember when it happened or where it took place. But in the clip, Bobby walks up to a poor black child that lived in a shack and asked him “what did you have for lunch today?” The boy responded “we haven’t eaten yet.” Kennedy responed “you haven’t had any lunch yet?” The kid simply shaked his head no. Kennedy, not knowing what to say, patted the child on the head. You could tell in his heart that he really cared about the child and didn’t have a ‘ready made’ political soundbite.
But this is just one story of Bobby Kennedy. When Bobby ran for President, he cared for everyone. He cared about that black child, he cared about the elderly, and the 19-year old that was to be shipped off to Vietnam. The man didn’t run to ‘be President’, like so many in our nation have (including the three I have mentioned previously, but we still don’t know about Obama). He ran to help people and to help their lives.
So, what made him a powerful politician? Well, lets look at the others that I have mentioned.
In the case of Clinton, Obama and JFK, people wanted to shake their hands and meet them so that they could say they met the man. Were they inspiring? Not really. People liked their policies or didn’t like the opponent. Remember, JKF won in a really close election. And I highly doubt that Clinton’s ‘forgotten middle class tax cut’ was and inspirational moment. With Obama, I still haven’t found a damn thing about him that is inspirational.
Now lets look at Bobby Kennedy. He always had the look of sadness on his face, like he was powerless in helping his fellow Americans. He had a look that I could imagine Abraham Lincoln having while delivering the Gettysburg Address. Still, people flocked to RFK. People wanted to meet him as well.
Hundreds, even thousands, ran behind his motorcade in the 1968 election to meet the man. But they didn’t just meet him to ‘meet him’. They saw him as more. When you look at the people in these old clips, and you see them shake his hand, they look more like they are in the presence of the Messiah instead of a 60’s politician. People felt hope with him. They felt that the world would change. Even those of who couldn’t reach his hand to shake were still in awe over him.
And on June 4th, 1968, when RFK was shot, it seemed that the hopes and dreams of all Americans were dashed. Yes, people were upset when JFK was shot. But there was a certain feeling with RFK died. It changed the nation.
Bobby Kennedy was a powerful man. The last person that might of had this power was Abraham Lincoln. Only once in century do we have a man or woman who shows this power.
Who will be next? It sure isn’t Obama!
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