The second coming?

In 1858, a virtually unknown state legislator from Illinois seized the attention of the nation with his message of national unity. “A nation divided against itself cannot stand”, the young lawyer said, and he followed up his speech with a run for the open US Senate seat.

We all know the rest. Abraham Lincoln defeated John Breckinridge in 1860 (despite having won NO southern states). His opponents said that he was too young (only fifty-one in 1860). They said that he was inexperienced (eight years in the Illinois legislature). Despite these claims, most found Lincoln’s optimism about bridging the gap between North and South refreshing. Unlike most Republicans, Lincoln did not advocate war with the South. History students can recite how the story ends. Lincoln’s election leads to the secession of South Carolina, which led to Fort Sumter, which led to the Civil War. Four years and nearly six-hundred and fifty thousand deaths later, the institution of slavery was over and the Union was one again.

Fast forward to 2004. An unknown Illinois legislator named Barack Obama takes the stage in Boston to make the biggest speech of his life, a speech that will propel him into the national spotlight. In his speech, the young lawyer proclaimed that “there is no liberal America and there is no conservative America. There is only a United States of America”. The “audacity of hope” was the modern day “house divided” speech. . Four years later, the whispers of “Obama in 08” have turned into shouts.

Obama was against the war in Iraq in the months leading up to invasion in 2003. His detractors say he’s too young. He’ll be forty-seven in 2008. They say that he’s too inexperienced. He’ll have served the people of Illinois both on a state and a federal level. Unlike Lincoln, we don’t know how his story ends. Lincoln’s election led to a victory in the U.S. Civil War. According to David McCullough, “history is a guide to navigation in perilous times”. The country and a volunteer army rallied behind Lincoln as he secured Atlanta, Vicksburg, and Columbia. Perhaps it will take an unknown, untested, young lawyer from Illinois to secure Baghdad, Ramadi, and Fallujah.

Your thoughts?