Letter: Obama’s diva train is on wrong track

Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007 | 7:21 a.m.

The surge is working! Well, maybe not as well in Iraq as in Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina.

Surges are not an uncommon phenomenon either in war or in politics. But for Barack Obama, why now? A nascent politician with a very limited background is all of a sudden the talk of the town.

He is far more charismatic and affable than either of the other top Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. But these are not recently acquired characteristics.

Money certainly isn't a surge issue because he is always near the lead or in the lead as a fundraiser. Well, just maybe it's his new presence onstage. His ability to speak, while always charming, has an added dimension.

Obama's star power has risen to new heights now that Oprah Winfrey is onboard the diva train. Is this the type of person that Americans now seek out for leadership in very troubled times? Do we really need a diva train, or a train that can put us on the right track?

Can those with a message of hope springs eternal - but with little hope of actually bringing together, in rapid fashion, those individuals required to do it - lead us out of a quagmire of war, overspending, undereducating and flagging government oversight? I certainly don't think so.

I believe Obama has a lot of promise, but not the promise of now.

Richard Rychtarik, Las Vegas