Obstacles

Yesterday, while in a waiting room of a physical therapy facility I met a man with Muscular Dystrophy. I was enduring CBN's Pat Robertson on the television. I started to scribble some notes for a possible diary. Then from behind me came the voice of someone who was definitely not a fan. The fellow was engaged in a conversation about the hypocrisy of some (I'm being generous) conservative Christians. Soon we began to compare notes on how both of us have ended up needing to use a wheelchair part time. When ever I tell someone I had polio the conversation turns to President Roosevelt. He made the statement that what made FDR great was his need to overcome the limitations brought on by polio. That dealing with physical obstacles makes one look at things differently.
I think he's right. When you start having to figure out new ways to do old things your whole mental process changes. When bending over to tie your shoe is a sure way to get a face full of floor you start sitting down to tie your shoe. We came to the conclusion that this might me part of the reason for FDR's success. As I thought about this on the way home I thought that maybe that is also why President Kennedy's ideas were so fresh. He too had to learn to adjust the way he he did things so as not to aggravate his back. I recently heard Newsweek's Jonathan Alter speaking about FDR. Something he said about FDR really made sense. He said basically, FDR knew he didn't have all the answers for getting us out of the Depression. What he knew was that he had to keep trying. I wish I could remember the exact term that Roosevelt used to express this but in short it was the old cliche' "Try, Try, Try again. This is what he did. He would implement a program to deal with an issue. After a reasonable amount of time he would evaluate the success of the program. If it wasn't working he would try to figure out why. Then he would try to incorporate those parts that were working with some new idea in an effort to allow it to succeed. How does this relate to our times? Sen. Clinton and Obama are both facing the uphill battle to be the first, the first black person or the first women to be elected president. Beginning with New Hampshire the debate stopped being about problem solving and started being the same old he said, she said crap. All the while they bickered the Republicans sat back saying this is just what we need - Democrats fighting with each other.The thing is that if they have put an end to the nit picking over he said, she said they both have something in common with FDR and JFK, an obstacle. The obstacle they both face is the prejudice of the electorate. So I suggest that as we all face the decision of who to vote for for president we examine each candidate as to what is their obstacle and how did they overcome it. For instance, we were well into another election cycle before I knew that Sen. Dole had a bad arm. Same with Sen. McCain. These men faced physical limitations that anyone of us could face someday. Yet they both have found a way to deal with it so as not to make it obvious. This year two of the candidates have obstacles that none of the others have to face. There is now way for either to hide their obstacle. Senator Edwards can never know what it is like to be a woman striving to be president. Congressman Kucinich can never know the hardship of being a black man running for president. Always holding a pen in one hand isn't going to cut it for these two. We on the other hand have what I think is the enviable position of observing just how these two Senators handle their individual obstacles. How do you get an electorate to look past your race or your sex to see the possibilities you bring to the office of President of the United States of America.