TX, Austin American Statesman

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/10/19/1019president_edit.html

President: Obama answers call for change, hope, leadership

On taxes, on foreign policy, on questions of energy, Sen. Barack Obama shows a firm grasp on the problems and a solid grip on solutions

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Each of the two major presidential candidates fill the air with different words that all say "change," but only Sen. Barack Obama defines change clearly and positively.

It is a time of peril, both at home and abroad, and the nation needs the focused, energetic leadership Obama has projected and delivered since he announced his presidential candidacy in early 2007.

It's true that Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, is a relative newcomer. In making the national acquaintance, however, he not only has offered solid ideas but also rallied a mix of discipline and organization to propel him from long shot to the top of the ticket.

In the third and final debate last week, John McCain, the Republican senator from Arizona, tried to bait him into the gutter, but Obama refused to get down there. Political wisdom dictates that candidates who are attacked return double the fire directed at them. Obama responded calmly, defending himself but declining to respond in kind.

Now that's change.

A vote for Obama would be a vote for change on an array of fronts. Obviously, he would become the first U.S. citizen of color to hold the nation's highest office. But more important than his biracial bloodline are his ideas.

On taxes, on foreign policy, on energy and on health care, Obama shows a firm grasp on the problems and a solid grip on solutions.

Obama would not isolate our nation's enemies but talk to them. There is no dishonor in diplomacy, as President Nixon demonstrated when he went to China.

Obama, an opponent of the long, expensive war in Iraq, wants to withdraw troops from that country — not a retreat but a phased withdrawal over 16 months. Iraqis want us out, and we should accommodate them as quickly as is practical. That would free up resources to confront the growing dangers in Afghanistan.

On energy production, McCain spotlights a false promise of cheap gasoline. He mentions renewable resources, but almost in passing. Obama concentrates his discussion of energy on moving the country beyond the talking stages of diversifying its energy sources and making that talk reality. Offshore drilling alone won't lower the price of gasoline immediately — and maybe not ever.

We can't wait any longer to diversify the nation's energy production, and we can't base our energy future on pining for the long lost days of cheap gasoline.

On the economy, McCain offers warmed-over tax cuts and an economic policy that is contributing to the credit crisis that is rocking Wall Street and putting stress fissures on Main Street.

While McCain would continue tax cuts for the affluent, Obama's tax plan makes the much larger middle class — the people on whose spending the economy relies — the beneficiaries of tax cuts.

Now that's change.

Beyond the wonkism, however, is a fundamental question of who is best equipped to lead.

Truth be told, neither McCain nor Obama could be expected to deliver 100 percent of his agenda. What economic reality won't limit, the vagaries of getting legislation through Congress will.

McCain, whose heroic military service to the nation we enthusiastically salute, is a fellow who built a political career saying "no." He served two terms in the U.S. House before being elected to the Senate in 1986. His accomplishments are mixed, but the Washington he vilifies rubbed off on him. For example, his effort to bring about comprehensive immigration reform was truly a bold, bipartisan move. But it died. So he turned his back on it because a comprehensive approach is politically incorrect with his party's right wing?

McCain might have made a fine president once, but he is not what the country needs now.

What the country needs now is the bold energy of Obama, who is not saddled with Washington cynicism — a leader who sees not roadblocks but highways.

Obama represents what we all profess to love about our country: an intelligent youngster who grew beyond his family's modest circumstances to earn an Ivy League education and eventually win a seat in the U.S. Senate and from there launch a bid for the presidency.

That experience makes him best suited to show the world that the United States is still the shining city on the hill that President Reagan envisioned.

Should he win office, Obama will need that sense of hope tempered by his calm resolve to restore confidence in the U.S. economy — here and abroad — as well as instill confidence in the nation's ability to conduct its foreign affairs with honor.

He will also need that strength to restrain fellow Democrats — who have the potential to widen their majorities in both the House and Senate — from drinking excessively from the fountain of power.

The country doesn't need another show of leadership staggering around drunk on authority.

Obama has demonstrated his toughness, his determination and his focus through the primaries and through a very personal general election campaign. The country will be in very capable hands in an Obama presidency.