2008.02.04: February 4, 2008: Headlines: Figures: Staff: COS - Ethiopia: Country Directors - Ethiopia: Philadelphia Daily News: John Baer writes: In Obama, Harris Wofford finds echoes of Kennedy, King

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Ethiopia: Special Report: Ethiopia Country Director and Senator Harris Wofford: February 9, 2005: Index: PCOL Exclusive: Staffer Harris Wofford : 2008.02.04: February 4, 2008: Headlines: Figures: Staff: COS - Ethiopia: Country Directors - Ethiopia: Philadelphia Daily News: John Baer writes: In Obama, Harris Wofford finds echoes of Kennedy, King

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-45-218.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.45.218) on Friday, February 15, 2008 - 8:24 am: Edit Post

John Baer writes: In Obama, Harris Wofford finds echoes of Kennedy, King

John Baer writes: In Obama, Harris Wofford finds echoes of Kennedy, King

"I've waited a long time to feel about a public figure the way I felt about John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King," says Wofford. This is not some talking head or political consultant who's seen old news clips of the Kennedys or King and is quick to make superficial comparisons to Obama. Wofford, 81, was a friend of King and the Kennedys, served in Kennedy's White House, headed the administration's sub-Cabinet group on civil rights and helped form the Peace Corps. So it makes sense Wofford was with Obama at Cornell College in Iowa in December, when Obama unveiled a national service plan Wofford worked on to double the size of the Peace Corps and start new volunteer programs in areas such as education, energy and health care. It makes sense Wofford was with Obama last week when Ted Kennedy joined Caroline Kennedy to endorse Obama at American University, the site of a major JFK speech on disarmament in June 1963. And it makes sense Wofford advises Obama on health care since it was Wofford's successful '91 Senate campaign that backlit the issue and led to the Clinton administration's bold (if failed) attempts at reform. "This is our second chance and we don't want a rerun," Wofford says.

John Baer writes: In Obama, Harris Wofford finds echoes of Kennedy, King

John Baer: In Obama, Wofford finds echoes of Kennedy, King
HE ASPIRES TO TRANSFORM OUR POLITICS & POLICIES, SAID THE FORMER SENATOR

Philadelphia Daily News
HARRIS WOFFORD sees the future in the past.

Pennsylvania's former U.S. senator is a surrogate for and adviser to Barack Obama because he sees in the Illinois senator the same critical thinking, approach to policy, ability to inspire and potential for creating positive change he saw firsthand so long ago.

"I've waited a long time to feel about a public figure the way I felt about John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King," says Wofford.

This is not some talking head or political consultant who's seen old news clips of the Kennedys or King and is quick to make superficial comparisons to Obama.

Wofford, 81, was a friend of King and the Kennedys, served in Kennedy's White House, headed the administration's sub-Cabinet group on civil rights and helped form the Peace Corps.

So it makes sense Wofford was with Obama at Cornell College in Iowa in December, when Obama unveiled a national service plan Wofford worked on to double the size of the Peace Corps and start new volunteer programs in areas such as education, energy and health care.

It makes sense Wofford was with Obama last week when Ted Kennedy joined Caroline Kennedy to endorse Obama at American University, the site of a major JFK speech on disarmament in June 1963.

And it makes sense Wofford advises Obama on health care since it was Wofford's successful '91 Senate campaign that backlit the issue and led to the Clinton administration's bold (if failed) attempts at reform.

"This is our second chance and we don't want a rerun," Wofford says.

So while working on his memoirs, tentatively titled Slightly Mad: Stories from an Elder Member of the Tribe, and pushing Experience Wave, a national effort to broaden work and volunteer opportunities for older Americans, Wofford's also pushing Obama.

During two wide-ranging interviews, I ask how Obama's like JFK and how different?

"I think they are similar in how they think, both extemporaneously and when working things through," says Wofford. "Barack reminds me of the kind of intelligence and lack of spinning Jack Kennedy had.

"And what radiated from him [JFK] was his belief in reason, that if reason is applied to public problems you really can solve them. . . . Obama's search for common ground and applying it to public policy is like that."

And how different?

"Kennedy didn't have and didn't really develop a passion for domestic issues or problems and was almost entirely fascinated by world affairs . . . and I think he wanted to make incremental progress.

"Barack is aspiring to fulfill Martin Luther King's dream, to do fundamental transformation of our politics and policies," Wofford says.

Can Obama win? Will a nation much changed since the '60s back a candidate whose seasoning isn't as obvious as his ability to inspire?

Outcomes, says Wofford, can't yet be calculated.

But he adds, "I'm very optimistic . . . an optimism born of an incredibly promising and unusual racehorse.

"It's fascinating that the history of 40 years ago can come back. It says something about cycles. Jack Kennedy followed relatively dull, gray years and stirred the country with a we-can-do-better message.

"Now the harsh reality of the war and our relationship with the world and our standing in the world is the ground for a country ready for someone with the vision and the voice of Barack . . . and the ground is shaking under the establishment."

Obama does seem to offer new directions.

He certainly inspires, especially the young, in the manner of the Kennedys and King.

The question (which might partly be answered in tomorrow's multistate primaries) is whether America's ready for a trip back to the future. *

Send e-mail to baerj@phillynews.com.




Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: February, 2008; Staff Member Harris Wofford; Figures; Staff; Peace Corps Ethiopia; Directory of Ethiopia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Ethiopia RPCVs; Country Directors - Ethiopia





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Story Source: Philadelphia Daily News

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; Staff; COS - Ethiopia; Country Directors - Ethiopia

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