Perspective

Today I had the pleasure of seeing my first official event... of the Clinton campaign. Chelsea Clinton spoke at the student union of the University of Southern Indiana. And the result was fascinating.

The event was staged as a "town hall" setup. That is, it was a somewhat intimate setting, with a strong focus on questions from the audience. As there is more of a direct conversation with the community, there is generally less fanfare than one finds in a rally. Furthermore, this setup lends itself to policy oriented discussions, partly to avoid unplanned political maneuvers. In this respect, Chelsea shone brilliantly. She showed a mastership of the issues at hand, including specific policy knowledge, relevant statistics, and an ability to put her words into perspective. After seeing Chelsea today, I was impressed by an obviously well-educated, bright person. Furthermore, I was left with the impression that a Hillary administration would be well grounded in strong policy decisions.

Unfortunately, good policy does not necessarily lead to good governance. In order to rule in our democracy, one must not only make good decisions but lead people into action as well. This sense of greater perspective is what lacks in the Clinton campaign (I'm not sure most people have a good sense of why Hillary even wants to be president). And this perspective was lacking in Chelsea's demeanor as well. There was no overwhelming theme framing the Chelsea's articulate responses, except a familiarity with mundane details.

Furthermore, this lack of perspective was made all the more apparent by the elephant in the room. Barack Obama's campaign for change, which has also displayed credibility on the policy level, has consistently portrayed a message of urgency and inspiration. Obama's ability to consistently relate his policy stance back to the fundamentals of American democracy taps into a deeper sense of patriotism and humanity. This uniting element blatantly contrasts with a consistently lackluster, yet competent, performance from the Clinton campaign.

On that note, registration for voting in the Indiana primary ended yesterday. Obama's registration drive resulted in 50,000 new voters, roughly 5% of the projected vote. In Evansville, we registered roughly 4,000, while the local Clinton campaign does not claim to have registered any.