Obama and Unity '08

There has been much made of the sheer brilliance and political savvy of the Obama campaign, both on this site and in the portion of the media that is concerned with politics and elections. One aspect his campaign's success that has not been discussed is how Obama has usurped the mantle of the "unity" candidate from Bloomberg and company. A recent on-line article by one of Unity '08's leading lights is such great proof of this usurping that it inspired me to write this diary.

There have been numerous diaries, most recently from SusanG, that rightfully scoff at the idea that we need a "unity" candidate who can bridge the divide between sensible Democrats and sensible Republicans. None that I have seen point out that one reason that Unity '08 as become irrelevant is because the Obama candidacy has made it redundant.

A big theme of Obama's candidacy has been the concept of reaching out to independents and Republicans. This has made some progressives nervous, but ultimately his strong progressive stands on issues like the Iraq War and trade have won most progressives over. Standing on Democratic principles while being willing to listen to and learn from those outside the liberal comfort zone has been a real winner. If he can hold the coalition of progressives and moderate independents and Republicans together, we will almost certainly have a big victory in November.

This theme combined with John McCain's appeal to independents has also had the side-effect of totally erasing Unity '08 reason for being. In a recent on-line Newsweek article Hannibal Jordan gives evidence of how dead the idea of a Unity '08 presidential bid is by lavishing praise on the Obama campaign and suggesting that he bring some prominent members of the all but defunct Unity '08 movement into his campaign.

What if Obama, in the next 30 to 60 days:

* Says he will name Independent Mike Bloomberg as his "domestic czar," given broad authority and charged with reconciling our country's fiscal mess with our domestic needs and opportunities. Bloomberg is a highly talented leader and visionary who has been tremendously successful in business and in politics. Bloomberg deserves a much larger stage to perform on. He might or might not want the portfolio of Secretary of Treasury, but having a person of his experience on the Obama team would reassure Wall Street and reinforce Obama's message of bringing all Americans together, regardless of party affiliation, to bring about change.

* Says he will name mainstream Democrat Sam Nunn, highly respected former senator and expert on defense issues and foreign policy (who has traveled the world for the past decade trying to contain the spread of nuclear weapons) to be his choice for Secretary of State. Here is a man who can go toe to toe with John McCain on any defense or foreign policy issue and enjoys the respect and admiration of foreign leaders around the world.

* Says he will name retiring Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel, from Nebraska, war hero, successful businessman and thoughtful critic of the Iraq War, to be his Secretary of Defense to rebuild our nation's military power.

It is highly unusual for a candidate to start announcing his cabinet before being elected and I don't think that all of Jordan's suggested appointments would be ones I'd like to see. However, it is very encouraging that the folks behind Unity '08 are clearly reaching out to Obama rather than McCain. It is my hope that the campaign reaches back. The Unity '08 movement may have been based on a bad concept, but there is little doubt that they could be very helpful in developing a broad coalition that racks up the kind of landslide that will give President Obama the sort of mandate we want him to have as he deals with the daunting issues that he will face over the next few years. Certainly having such accomplished public servants on his team would help deal with the "experience" attacks that will come his way in the general election, even if they were not in the exact positions that Jordan suggests.