Ambitious, But Toward What End?

The New Yorker recently ran a profile by Ryan Lizza on Barack Obama's rise to political prominence. Entitled "Making It: How Chicago shaped Obama," the article portrayed a man of overweaning ambition, who picked his friends and mentors with a constant eye on political upward mobility, and discarded them when they no longer served his purposes.

The writer interviewed a number of people I knew from my days in Chicago. As I read the article, some of their perspectives on Obama didn't sound like the people I once knew. One of those was Marilyn Katz, an antiwar activist since the late 1960s who now runs a political public relations firm with close ties to Mayor Richard Daley. This evening, I was one of many people who received an email from Marilyn containing a complaint she sent to the author of the New Yorker profile. You may find it interesting:

Of all the ways possible to explore the extraordinary person and journey of Barack Obama, I found it fascinating that Ryan Lizza would spin a tale of the 'canny politician,' who chose and discarded venues and friends as they fit his political ambitions in a city dominated by insider politics, intrigue and personal gain.

Nothing could be further from the truth, (although given that I was misquoted in the article even after informing your fact checker about it in advance) perhaps the 'truth' is not what Mr. Lizza was seeking; rather it was the crafting of a tall tale and a compelling read.

When I met with Mr. Lizza, we talked about the new Chicago, now one of the nation's most well-knit communities, where decision-making is shared among traditional political leaders and the scores of community, women's, ethnic, and environmental organizations that comprise its vibrant city life.

We talked about - and I referred your reporter to - the core of people who came of age during (and whose politics were forged by) the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s. These are the people who elected Harold Washington in 1983, changing the city's old-school politics forever. Many now lead its City Council and Congressional Delegation, having evolved into crucial leaders of the progressive network that enabled a talented young political leader to build a base that stretched across the state in record time.

Mr. Lizza and I talked about the critical importance of the grassroots political networks from which this young political leader emerged, in the wake of the invasion of Iraq, to build a base for his successful senate run. That Lizza opted to build his story out of the comments of two people who see things otherwise speaks more to story craft than to the truth.

While I don't recognize the reality of Barack or the Chicago he presents in his piece, ironically the tale that Lizza spins is an interesting one, even worth considering. It would not be a bad thing if Obama were the crafty, calculating politician that he describes. These are not times for 'accidental presidents.' The presidency of the United States has always been fought for by ambitious men – in the best of times those ambitions being in pursuit of a vision of the future about which they are passionate. Those who seek the presidency are by their very nature filled with an extraordinary sense of possibility and responsibility.

What makes Barack Obama stand out for me and others – what millions have recognized in him, is that while he is ambitious, his politics are not the 'politics of ambition,' a disease from which the nation has suffered too long. A disease that has led us into short-term thinking and long-term disasters from which I hope we will be liberated in November.

--Marilyn Katz