The Surprising Secret of Obama's Success

I've been thinking about another contributing factor to Barack Obama's burgeoning popularity.

Barack Obama has served part of one US Senate term.

John Edwards served a single, full term in the US Senate, and was an unsuccessful candidate for Vice President.

Hillary Clinton is serving in her second term as US Senator, and was First Lady for Bill Clinton's two terms as President.

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Barack Obama clearly has the least experience in national public office (less than Edwards and Clinton) and/or running for national public office (less than Edwards) and/or close proximity to national public office (Hillary Clinton).

And that is precisely why he is the logically best candidate to represent hope, and something new in politics and in the Presidency.

If this analysis is at all correct, it means that Bill Clinton is actually hurting Hillary by campaigning for her (because he reminds people of Hillary's lack of newness). It also means that there's not much that either Hillary Clinton or John Edwards can do to change things - to get ahead of Obama - since they cannot very well erase their past.

If this is correct, Obama will be unbeatable for the nomination, and will likely be our next President, unless the Republicans nominate a candidate radically as new as Obama, which seems unlikely.

Since I intend to vote for Obama in the New York primary - as indicated in a post here the day before Christmas - I welcome this.