WRR@LARGE

by Joy E. Stocke

Michelle Obama in Tampa, Florida - December, 2007

In early December, 2007, I traveled with a group of Latin American trade and policy experts through Ecuador as part of a delegation accompanying Nobel Laureate, Muhammad Yunus (See WRR, January 2008, "Opening the Gates of Capitalism."). At a luncheon honoring Dr. Yunus, I sat next to Frank Sanchez, a public policy expert and former Assistant Secretary of Transportation for the Clinton Administration.

We were guests of Ivonne Baki, President of the Andean Parliament, an old friend of Sanchez's from their years together at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. In the mid-90s Sanchez had worrked with Baki as part of a team that brokered a peace deal solving a 53-year-old border dispute between Peru and Ecuador; and later as advisor on trade policy to the Ecuadorian government.

He was as gracious as his credentials were impressive, so when he told me he was now an advisor for Barack Obama's presidential campaign, I set down my glass of wine and began asking questions. The most obvious, "Why Obama?"

Sanchez didin't hesitiate with an answer. "Because Obama has the intelligence and guts to go into uncharted territory.He doesn't doubt that his mission is to be of public service. People don't realize that he has twelve years experience in public office in the Illinois and U.S. senates. That's longer than Senator Clinton."

I was intrigued. During conversations with friends across the political spectrum, when the name Obama came up, the discussion often turned to Obama's youth and a lack of experience compared to Senators Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.

Sanchez went on to say that Obama's wife Michelle was a political force as well, intelligent, as well-educated as her husband, and supremely articulate.

"I'm hosting a fundraiser for her next week," he said. "Would you like to come?"

*

A week later, I stood on a runway with Sanchez and fundraising organizers waiting for Michelle Obama's plane to land. It was just two weeks before Christmas and she was coming from Iowa where her husband and Senators Hillary Clinton and John Edwards were in a tough race.

Campaign dollars mattered, and Sanchez and his team had managed to organize a sold-out event. When her plane landed, Obama gave no hint that she was anything but prepared to go the distance with her husband. The weekend before she had appeared with her husband and Oprah Winfrey at a rally in South Carolina, a crucial state in the early primaries. Tonight, she would have the opportunity to court a crowd that included black, white, and Hispanic voters.

She did it with ease and an engaging oratory style tailored to a crowd, many of whom, including myself, wanted to know as much about her children as her husband. She carried a notecard, but barely used it, opening her speech with these words:

"No matter where I go, what people want to know most is, how are the girls doing. And I want to let you know that they’re doing just fine. They are fourth graders and first graders, and they don’t care about anything but Santa right now.

But it’s interesting because I think this is becoming more of a reality for them as well. I had this interesting conversation with my nine-year-old that ranged from what college did I go to? What college did she want to go to? And, what was terrorism and where was Iraq? Interesting, there’s a level of paying attention and not paying attention.

When I asked her, "How would you feel if your father won the presidency?" - she said she was excited and scared at the same time. And the fear was that she’d have to move and go to another school.

I said, "That wouldn’t be the worse thing in the world."

So we’re holding it together pretty well.

We had a great weekend with the lady, Oprah Winfrey. That was amazing, even for all that we‘ve done. She was terrific and has been from the time we first met her when she had Barack on her show after the Democratic Convention. He had just published his first book, Dreams for my Father.

She was already an Obama supporter and said it right there on the show. She has an insight, an ability to see through the noise and identify what she sees as good leadership. She has been a good, solid friend, stepping out in a way she doesn’t have to. You know, when you are a billionaire, you don’t have to do anything. You don’t have to support anybody, let alone travel to the four early states and speak on their behalf.

So it was a wonderful experience and the enthusiasm and the energy was indescribable. They couldn't get everyone under the strucure and when Barack walked out, there were crowds lining the streets for a block, and they were cheering and waving.

It reminded me of a trip Barack and I took to Africa two years ago, the level of excitement that we saw in that country, the hope that people had just in the sheer presence of Barack Obama, a Kenyan, a black man, a man of great statesmanship who they thought could change the world..."

*

In Ecuador, at the end of our conversation, I asked Sanchez about the rigors of fundraising.

"First we've got to get through the early stages,: he said. "I'll continue to raise money and take a larger role in Hispanic outreach. If things go really well for us - and we'll know by mid-February - we're only at the beginning because this race could be contested right up through June."

To be continued...