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With Mitt Romney out of the picture (giving McCain a virtual lock on the Republican nomination), Obama and Clinton are left to duke it out in a prolonged struggle for the Democratic nomination that might very well end in a skirmish on the floor of the convention. Although both candidates are very intelligent and appealing, exit polls suggest that most young voters are leaning towards Senator Obama. But before we, the proud Democratic youth of America, get behind the charismatic, well-groomed superstar senator, it is imperative that we stop and consider the consequences of putting this guy behind the big desk.

As someone who voted for Barack Obama in the Connecticut Super Tuesday primary, it’s my duty, and the duty of my fellow Obama supporters, to remind ourselves what we’re getting into. “Change We Can Believe In,” and “Spread Hope” are taglines, not policies. And although these messages may sound positive, the ideas of Change and Hope are really negative campaigning and attack advertising at its finest. Obama isn’t here to talk about what change he is bringing to the White House, he’s talking about what we as a nation are looking to get away from: the Bush administration’s failed policies. Running against the backdrop of Bush’s presidency is a lot easier than running against the experience and hardened policies of either Hilary Clinton or, down the road, John McCain. But let’s face it, for a junior senator, this method is the smartest method, and perhaps the only way to win this political competition.

Obama’s got some good policies: his ideas about healthcare are more fiscally sound and realistic than Clinton’s, his populist tendencies and promises of a transparent government give the impression of a man with nothing to hide; his position on the war, while perhaps a little naive, still stands to be very appealing to Americans who have never felt that turning the Middle East into a love-fest of Western Thinking is possible, or even a good idea, and his background as a community leader gives him a strong moral high ground.

But regardless of his policies, any newly minted American president as inexperienced as Obama has a good chance of being put under the microscope, especially in the area of foreign policy. Nations who have not been so fond of American neo-imperialism, such as Russia and France, will undoubtedly issue litmus tests in one form or another. Outright hostile nations such as Iran and North Korea might test the new administration’s diplomatic skills through aggressive acts of escalation. Senator Obama’s calls for diplomacy, and offers to sit down with Iran and others, may well come back to haunt him, paralyzing the beginning of his presidency while he fends off one challenge after another. George Bush was tested a year into his presidency, and that test defined his two terms in office, which are now widely viewed as a failure. As Obama supporters, we must ask ourselves if his offers of diplomacy are so very different from Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s ideas that appeasement might achieve “peace for our time,” an irony that has echoed throughout history. Is the young Senator from Illinois too young and too naive to hear those echoes?

I believe he is not. Barack Obama is an “A” student, and despite a having a few sadsacks from the Carter administration hanging around his advisory room, I have confidence in his ability to stock the new ExComm with smart people to help him out with foreign policy. And though the proponents of radical Islam may issue a lot of ultimatums, in the end, I have to believe that there are people in Middle Eastern nations who are looking for a U.S. leader who will reach out to them, rather than cast them into the same lot with Al Qaeda, and chase them to the “gates of hell,” as John McCain has promised to do.

That’s putting a lot of “hope” into “change,” and if you don’t have that kind of faith to spare in Senator Obama’s abilities, then you should be voting for Senator Clinton, whose chances at winning a general election are slimmer, but whose foreign policy is well worn, and whose husband showed a good deal of competence concerning foreign affairs while in office.

This is Ben’s first post at New School Politics. To find out more about him, please visit the about page.

Last 5 posts by Ben

• Obama Wins in Small Wyoming Caucus - March 8th, 2008
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The Obama and The Long Haul: A Supporter’s Doubts by New School Politics, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.