On ABC World News Tonight with Charles Gibson, Senator Obama discusses the hubris a person needs to believe that he or she can be president:

I think if you don't have enough self-awareness to see the element of megalomania involved in thinking you can be president then you probably shouldn't be president. . .There's a slight madness to thinking you should be the leader of the free world.

Watching this reminds me of half of the reason I support Barack Obama: the less important half which involves his personal appeal and charisma. I can't imagine another candidate in the present or past speaking like this, providing a genuine insight into the campaign process and himself on purpose. Most of the time when the "real" candidates are revealed, it involves them making mistakes - either in front of a camera, or mistakes so serious the matter ends up in court. The definition of a gaffe in Washington is when a politician is accidentally honest.

Obama talks in a way no other politician does. Not because he is an inherently better person but because he is of a different generation. The lessons of the past 20 years of cultural warfare don't seem to apply to Obama; he transcends them because he lived through them. Somewhere in this is the core of Obama's appeal.

The video is after the jump.

Here's the clip from ABC:

Comments

Rose · 2009-04-01

WOW!!! That was sad and touching at the same time. I never knew this befor. But the people theat are reading this you may not know that i am the friend of Molia and Sasha. But don't tell because if u do the name rose is just fake. But i realy am the presidents doughters friend don't belive me ask them yourself wait u can't hahahahahahahahaaaaa! oh the video was asome from the begining. BYE BYE :)

Rose · 2009-04-01

AND HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY :D :D :D :)

independent · 2009-11-28

I can't believe so many people fell for the genertic gibberish that Obama peddled onto the electorate. You can describe it right out of Buzz Windrip's campaign speeches! For those of you whop don't know who that is, start reading Sinclair Lewis and you will find Obama's character was formed 80 years ago.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 1st, 2007 and is filed under Election 2008, Obama, Politics. Comments are closed; the conversation is kept as it was.