November 5, 2008
The Morning After: Was It Worth the Effort
Richard Leone
President, The Century Foundation
Minutes of the Eighth Meeting of the 67th Year
At 10:15 AM President Hansen called the eighth meeting of the 67th year to order. The meeting was held in the Frist Performance Center. The invocation was led by Don Edwards. George Cody read the minutes of the previous meeting.
Peter Wise introduced his wife Kathie, Jerry Berkelhammer introduced his wife Sheila, Scott McVay introduced his wife Hella, and George Hansen introduced Jimmy Dahlstan from Sweden. Nickolas Van Dyke introduced the Rev. Eliot Daley for membership.
It was announced the 12 November speaker will be John Waterbury. The title of his talk is, “Higher Education in the Middle East.” The meeting will be held in the Convocation Room of the Friend Center beginning with a hospitality hour at 9:30 AM.
Scott McVay introduced the speaker. Richard C. Leone, president of the Century Foundation, is the first PhD graduate of the Woodrow Wilson School, is a former chairman of the Port of Authority and New Jersey State Treasurer. He was president of the Mercantile Exchange, a managing director at Dillon Reed& Company, and a member of the Princeton University faculty. His writings on a wide range of public policy topics have appeared in a variety of national and local publications and broadcasts. Because of his expertise he was asked to speak the day following the national presidential election with the title of “The Morning After: Was it worth it?”
Dr Leone opened his remarks by stating President Elect Barack Obama faces the third toughest assignment in presidential history. The first and toughest was Abraham Lincoln facing the Civil War. The second was Franklin Roosevelt dealing with the Great Depression and the rise of Hitler to power in Germany. Obama’s primary challenge is to deal with the economic meltdown facing our country today.
Next, he said the most important thing is the historical evolution of this country on the issue of race. It is a generational difference. The attitudinal difference between the generations is quite striking. There is a group of young people who are “post racial” as to the way they think about things and this group represents the core of his supporters. They were open to Obama and were the ”dry tinder” in the Democratic Party. While other Democratic candidates believed calling for an end to the Iraq war would be fatal to the Democratic Party, Obama did not. Instead he took a strong stance against entering and continuing the conflict thus igniting that “dry tinder” support.
Dr. Leone felt the Republicans put up John McCain as the best candidate who could distance himself from President George W. Bush. He said McCain had a different take on government. He did not share the Republican bias against serving in the government as a high goal in life which had not attracted their best and brightest as a consequence.
Another reason for Barack Obama’s success is his strong personal characteristics. Like South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, Obama commands the space around himself. He acts without hostility to past injustices. He has a gift of language and literature to use as powerful tools touching and motivating people.
He forged his base by attracting wealthy contributors. He appealed to them after spending only a short time with him. Next, using technology, he put together a mass fund raising machine that “we have never seen before.” This large financial resource allowed him to put his message across throughout the country.
Obama’s vice presidential choice of Joe Biden was reassuring. John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin narrowed the appeal to her conservative political base reducing the support of traditional Republican as well as independent voters.
Dr. Leone felt negative attacks were ineffective by either side in this campaign.
The major issues leading to Obama’s victory were the financial meltdown of our monetary system, the racial changes in our country, his personal attributes, and his use of the internet. Multiple internet communities became his ground forces of influence and source of capital. The use of the internet is bound to be important in future political campaigns.
A lively question and answer period followed his remarks. Drawing on his vast knowledge and experience Dr. Leone’s apparent answer to the morning after the election question “was it worth it?” was …….yes.
Respectively submitted,
George H. Hansen
Peter Wise introduced his wife Kathie, Jerry Berkelhammer introduced his wife Sheila, Scott McVay introduced his wife Hella, and George Hansen introduced Jimmy Dahlstan from Sweden. Nickolas Van Dyke introduced the Rev. Eliot Daley for membership.
It was announced the 12 November speaker will be John Waterbury. The title of his talk is, “Higher Education in the Middle East.” The meeting will be held in the Convocation Room of the Friend Center beginning with a hospitality hour at 9:30 AM.
Scott McVay introduced the speaker. Richard C. Leone, president of the Century Foundation, is the first PhD graduate of the Woodrow Wilson School, is a former chairman of the Port of Authority and New Jersey State Treasurer. He was president of the Mercantile Exchange, a managing director at Dillon Reed& Company, and a member of the Princeton University faculty. His writings on a wide range of public policy topics have appeared in a variety of national and local publications and broadcasts. Because of his expertise he was asked to speak the day following the national presidential election with the title of “The Morning After: Was it worth it?”
Dr Leone opened his remarks by stating President Elect Barack Obama faces the third toughest assignment in presidential history. The first and toughest was Abraham Lincoln facing the Civil War. The second was Franklin Roosevelt dealing with the Great Depression and the rise of Hitler to power in Germany. Obama’s primary challenge is to deal with the economic meltdown facing our country today.
Next, he said the most important thing is the historical evolution of this country on the issue of race. It is a generational difference. The attitudinal difference between the generations is quite striking. There is a group of young people who are “post racial” as to the way they think about things and this group represents the core of his supporters. They were open to Obama and were the ”dry tinder” in the Democratic Party. While other Democratic candidates believed calling for an end to the Iraq war would be fatal to the Democratic Party, Obama did not. Instead he took a strong stance against entering and continuing the conflict thus igniting that “dry tinder” support.
Dr. Leone felt the Republicans put up John McCain as the best candidate who could distance himself from President George W. Bush. He said McCain had a different take on government. He did not share the Republican bias against serving in the government as a high goal in life which had not attracted their best and brightest as a consequence.
Another reason for Barack Obama’s success is his strong personal characteristics. Like South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, Obama commands the space around himself. He acts without hostility to past injustices. He has a gift of language and literature to use as powerful tools touching and motivating people.
He forged his base by attracting wealthy contributors. He appealed to them after spending only a short time with him. Next, using technology, he put together a mass fund raising machine that “we have never seen before.” This large financial resource allowed him to put his message across throughout the country.
Obama’s vice presidential choice of Joe Biden was reassuring. John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin narrowed the appeal to her conservative political base reducing the support of traditional Republican as well as independent voters.
Dr. Leone felt negative attacks were ineffective by either side in this campaign.
The major issues leading to Obama’s victory were the financial meltdown of our monetary system, the racial changes in our country, his personal attributes, and his use of the internet. Multiple internet communities became his ground forces of influence and source of capital. The use of the internet is bound to be important in future political campaigns.
A lively question and answer period followed his remarks. Drawing on his vast knowledge and experience Dr. Leone’s apparent answer to the morning after the election question “was it worth it?” was …….yes.
Respectively submitted,
George H. Hansen