Would an Obama Administration Look Like Fenty’s?
By Sonsyrea Tate Montgomery
WI Managing Editor
Thursday, January 31, 2008
  
Not everyone was interested in the South Carolina primary results as I was Saturday night. I was out for an evening of fun and fellowship with family and friends at a restaurant in Rockville where my husband’s band performed. But I was drawn to the big screen behind the bar as the results of the South Carolina primary poured in.

I was surprised that most of the patrons were clearly un-interested in the results.

A couple of young White women, one African American couple, and one bearded White man who could have been in his mid-50s strained to hear the election commentary as the numbers changed from Sen. Barack Obama wining by 64 percent to 78 percent. We could not hear the insights from the seasoned political experts, but a thousand insights and possibilities raced through my mind.
  
He could win! Just like our Adrian Fenty beat Linda Cropp in 2006 by running an energetic, broad-based, youthful grass roots campaign, Obama won South Carolina. Of course that strategy won’t work everywhere. It did not work in New Hampshire or Nevada, but maybe it will work in enough states to secure a victory in the end. Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, when 22 states hold primaries, will give us a better indication.
  
Obama’s campaign had 13,000 volunteers going door-to-door and phone banking in South Carolina. They are organizing similar grass roots efforts in other states, even as they garner support from state governors, senators and congress members to create what Obama’s campaign manager calls a “working climate” for after the election.
  
They are also enlisting the support of city mayors and councilmembers, and it’s all exciting – for me – to watch.
  
After I was satisfied that Obama won the old southern state Saturday, I returned to my table and posed a question to those who’ve lived through more presidential elections than me.
  
“Were you this excited when Jesse Jackson ran?” I asked.
  
They shook their heads.
  
“When he ran, we knew it was symbolic. Nobody really expected him to win. It’s just that it was time for a Black candidate to run a real campaign,” one of the older gentleman said. 
  
They are not excited about this race or Obama’s candidacy for several reasons. Some just can’t imagine a man who is 46, but looks 36, running a country. In our community, age trumps everything. We equate being older with being wiser although that often is not the case.
  
Some simply do not think Obama will or can win. They believe something will happen. They don’t know what, but they believe something bad will happen before that fateful election day or something bad will happen shortly after.
  
It’s no wonder they weren’t drawn to the latest round in this political fight.
  
As the race proceeds and I expect some nasty revelations to emerge about Obama a week or two before election day, I am hopeful that all those who stand for real change will prevail.
  
I remember Cropp’s campaign turning particularly nasty in the final weeks of the election. She accused Fenty of criminally neglecting senior citizens he represented as an attorney. I remember listening to Fenty and Cropp in separate Informer editorial board meetings and being convinced that Cropp only looked like me on the surface. I was not convinced she understood me – or my kind – much less cared to accommodate us. Fenty’s proposals were appealing, and would have been appealing even if he were not Black like me.
 
As I watch Obama gain key endorsements from the Kennedys, and watch his very diverse, very youthful campaign steam roll ahead, I can’t help but consider that an Obama administration could end up looking a lot like our Fenty administration.
  
Some criticize the apparent lack of African American – especially native D.C. Black – talent, but I see him working closely with young, talented African Americans he helped get elected. (Ok, so that was just one way for him to ensure at least two votes on the council.) Still, I’m hopeful that these agents of change – Obama and Fenty – will do some of what our forebearers did –open doors of opportunities to others who otherwise would not have such opportunities.

Sonsyrea Tate Montgomery is the managing editor of the Washington Informer newspaper and the author of “Little X: Growing Up in the Nation of Islam,” and “Do Me Twice: My Life After Islam.”