http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070829/News01/708290417/1064/OpinionIn last month's Democratic CNN/YouTube debate, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., distinguished himself from his fellow presidential hopefuls and stood out as a different kind of Democratic candidate. Doing so in a presidential primary debate can be difficult, especially when each candidate receives a minute or less to produce a sound-bite answer. But while each candidate lamented the ongoing war in Iraq and the failures of the American health care system, Obama showed why many in the country think the Illinois senator is a unique politician who can bring real change to Washington.
Throughout the debate, Obama derided the disproportionate influence lobbyists and special interest groups have on policy decisions, and he insisted that politicians should respond to the needs and concerns of the American people instead of wealthy individuals and corporations. According to Obama, these public concerns include bringing American troops home from an Iraq war he opposed from its beginning, providing all Americans access to health care and ending American dependence on foreign oil. As Obama noted, however, most of his fellow candidates have strong proposals to deal with these problems and others have had similar proposals in the past, but partisan bickering and the influence of outside groups impeded actual change.
Obama was quick to point out that simply electing a Democrat will not change the country's politics, and many viewers began realizing that Obama was not calling for a lighter version of the "politics as usual" seen in the past six years. Additionally, Obama's remarks on foreign policy showed that his lack of time spent in Washington might actually bring a fresh approach to the way America conducts its affairs abroad.
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