Why Obama will succeed

After two full weeks in office, President Barack Obama has a notable naysayer in conservative Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh, the nation's leading syndicated radio host, has had quite a bit to say about Obama's recent oath in office -- and apparently, Barack Obama is listening. As Obama told House Republicans, "You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done."

In response to the plans Obama has for government, Rush states:

"I would be honored if the Drive-By Media headlined me all day long: 'Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails.' Somebody's gotta say it." With increased business taxes, cuts for regular taxpayers and a system that provides more government assistance to the people who need it, Limbaugh asks the question: "Why would I want that to succeed?"

Rush Limbaugh's primary concern is that President Obama is going to effectively establish an economy where the lines of social and class demarcation are not as clearly defined as they have been. A world where the "haves" won't be so clearly distinguishable from the "have-nots." In Rush's mind, President Obama's administration may mean an end to a certain capitalist era that most others see as having been characterized by corporate avarice and failed financial schemes.

It seems fairly apparent from almost any perspective that the country is hurting. Though no one officially knows what is in our country's future over the next four years, there are some fundamental factors that indicate we're in very good and capable hands -- and why Barack Obama's success is likely.

Before the general election, Limbaugh revered his ally Sarah Palin for being able to "understand" the "danger" in an Obama victory. Of all the things Palin may or may not have accurately understood during her campaign, she did make one important discovery about then-Senator Obama. Attempting to liken her own role as mayor of her hometown in Alaska to the work he was doing in inner city Chicago, Palin told the Republican Convention, "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities." Despite her attempt to disparage Obama, Palin actually did a great job of highlighting one of Obama's most fundamental skills: his passion to organize.

Barack Obama was a natural born organizer, and it was this very skill that he continued to hone in his Chicago community. In a book published in 1990 titled After Alinsky: Community Organizing in Illinois, Obama describes his role as an organizer in the Chicago community. The words he wrote nearly twenty years ago, clearly detail the strategy he's already begun to employ in organizing a successful government today:

"In theory, community organizing provides a way to merge various strategies for neighborhood empowerment. Organizing begins with the premise that (1) the problems facing inner-city communities do not result from a lack of effective solutions, but from a lack of power to implement these solutions; (2) that the only way for communities to build long-term power is by organizing people and money around a common vision; and (3) that a viable organization can only be achieved if a broadly based indigenous leadership -- and not one or two charismatic leaders -- can knit together the diverse interests of their local institutions."

And what then was a statement about everyone working together can now be used to define his view on bipartisan politics:

Equally important, it enables people to break their crippling isolation from each other, to reshape their mutual values and expectations and rediscover the possibilities of acting collaboratively -- the prerequisites of any successful self-help initiative.

For his presidential campaign, Obama once again made use of his organizational skills and structured a staff whose primary purpose was to be as effective as possible at reaching as many people as possible with a message of hope and change. Obama composed a staff of unified and proficient campaigners that kept any internal dissension out of the media, young electrifying speechwriters who knew how to effectively channel his voice and connect with people, and a team that was among the first to successfully use all forms of technology -- including text messages, online phone banks, blogs, Facebook, and even ring tones to launch a movement coined as "Obamamania." Not to mention, Obama's team was one of the most successful campaigns to organize strategies that helped register new voters -- another crucial element that led to his victory.

The current state of the economy and government require precisely the organization that Obama has to offer -- and this time is the crucial point of intersection where our country's needs meet the very skills he has to offer. Thankfully, Obama took what made him a great organizer in the community, and brought it to Washington. With a goal for the success of our country in his sites, Obama has overcome partisan principles and continues to structure a team in government that are united for the purpose of improvement, and not politics.

Whether Rush Limbaugh is actually rooting for Obama's failure is anyone's guess. Obama's failure directly means the nation's failure, and an economy -- and thereby a society -- that would be decimated beyond most regular means of repair.

Perhaps Rush Limbaugh's most accurate statement about Barack Obama is that he doesn't know much about him. Surely, if Rush has been paying any degree of attention to Obama, his history, his campaign, or his cabinet appointments, he'll recognize even this early on in Obama's presidency, that he and any others who may share his same opinion, are in for quite a big disappointment.