Given his temperament, track record, and life-long commitment to public service, the American people can trust that if elected President Barack Obama will run the Executive Office effectively, with the common good foremost in his mind. He will also use the “bully pulpit” of the Presidency to rally ordinary people to counter the power of the special interests and their lobbyists. He will continue to inspire us to care for each other and work together to improve ourselves and the larger community.

We know this because of how Obama has run his campaign.

This long, arduous effort has tested him severely and through it all, he has demonstrated that he can manage a large operation with great skill and grace.

He has responded to moments of pressure calmly and intelligently.

He brings people together and forges consensus. He inspires and holds people accountable without being harsh.

He makes decisions thoughtfully, after taking time to listen to others and reflect on what they have to say.

His first decision after winning the nomination, selecting Joe Biden as his running mate, illustrates his judgment.

He knows how to lead, without being authoritarian. He’s willing to compromise when it’s necessary to make progress, while consistently holding to his core principles.

He’s able to cooperate with others, including other countries, while maintaining an essential strength.

He recognizes the need to limit the arbitrary, top-down power of the President.

His campaign has been based on building the largest, grassroots organization in the history of U.S. elections, thereby empowering citizens.

McCain is resorting to the Strong Man theory of history, arguing that his extreme suffering as a POW transformed him profoundly and gave him special strength. He claims that the fortitude he gained from his suffering makes him uniquely capable of implementing top-down change. The authoritarian change that McCain and his neocon allies want violates our core democratic values. He will make the Presidency more Imperial and he will make the country more imperialistic, as did Bush.

If Americans are offered a choice between two Strong Men, McCain will win with "Peace Through Strength." Obama can't win an argument about who will be the stronger authoritarian.

HomeBaseOne: Transforming the Democratic Party

On June 7, a diverse group of Obama activists launched HomeBaseOne, a project dedicated to transforming the Democratic Party into a community that fights for its principles year-round. By slightly modifying the Obama campaign's house-meeting format, we aim to advance personal responsibility, self-improvement, self-reliance, and solidarity -- values that Obama has affirmed so powerfully.

While working to win the November elections, Democratic Party activists need to begin transforming the Party into a grassroots, activist organization that mobilizes its members year-round to implement its platform. We can start now to create new, easily reproduced models for how the Party can do more than just work on elections.

As soon as the Presidential election is over, we must follow through with ongoing action.  Franklin Roosevelt once told some reformers, "I agree with you. I want to do it. Now make me do it." The next President will likely hold that same sentiment.

The "system" will still be in place. The super wealthy, giant corporations, and their allies will continue to exercise great influence on Congress, the media, the economy, and throughout society. To overcome that power, promote democracy, establish justice, and protect the environment, the American people will need to mobilize as never before.

Barack Obama speaks eloquently about self-reformation. At a commencement in New Hampshire, he affirmed overcoming selfishness. On Martin Luther King Day, he discussed enhancing empathy. In The Audacity of Hope, he presented a vision of profound moral renewal. In his speeches, he regularly addresses the importance of taking personal responsibility.

We, the American people, need to help each other practice what he preaches.

One way you could achieve that goal would be to invite friends and/or relatives who want to work together in support of the Obama campaign to participate in an "Obama Support Group." The proposed agenda for the gathering could be something like the following:

We progressive activists need to change ourselves as well as the world. Self-reformation can enhance both our personal quality of life and our political efforts.

In my investigations, including the Questionnaire of Self-Improvement, the most frequent self-improvement goal reported has been to become less judgmental and more understanding of others. Many progressive-minded individuals also say that activists, including themselves, need to be less arrogant and more humble, more joyous, better listeners, less competitive and more cooperative, less dominating and more democratic, less intellectual and more intelligent emotionally, less ideological and more accepting of various points of view, less obsessed with objective goals and more present in the here and now to the whole person (not just his or her "political" side), and better able to take care of themselves for the long haul.

These are only some of the many ways that we can better ourselves and grow supportive, activist communities dedicated to transforming our social system.

Popular culture includes many references to "the system." Mass advertising, for example, occasionally affirms “beating the system.” The American Heritage Dictionary recently added the phrase “the system” and defines it as “the prevailing socialorder; the establishment.”

By building on this common-sense knowledge and clarifying the nature of today’s dominant social system, we can lay the foundation for transforming that system.

A system is a group of elements that work together as an integrated whole to perform a particular function. These components create a reality that is greater than the sum of its parts.

I invite you to join in a discussion of how the progressive movement might be more effective. Together, we might refine proposals for action that could help us move forward. Following are some initial thoughts of my own.

A Clear, Concise, Comprehensive Vision Statement

We need a proactive statement of our core principles that could help hold all of us together over the long haul and provide the basis for occasional, massive, united action on timely, winnable issues. Greater consensus in this regard could attract more activists by offering a positive vision, as well as soften internal conflicts by reminding us of our purpose. I offer What We Stand For, a statement that some associates and I have developed (for a proposed new project, the development of "home-grown communities"), as an example of the kind of vision statement that could be useful.

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Communicating from the Heart

Much political discourse is too intellectual or too one-way. We need to learn how to talk from the heart -- and listen from the heart. We need to do more than presenting policy prescriptions. We also need to help awaken people from egocentric preoccupations by discussing moral values in a heartfelt manner. We need to do more than trying to persuade others to do what we want them to do. We also need to pay attention to what they think and feel, and decide together how to proceed.

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Overcoming Arrogance

In the long run, acting superior is counterproductive, but many, if not most, progressive activists compete with each other for higher rank and adopt an air of superiority toward people who aren't activists. From the perspective of the universe, each individual is but a small leaf on an enormous tree, part-and-parcel of the miracle of life. The world is amazing precisely because each individual is so small. The infinite makes us finite. Facing this enormous mystery honestly is a humbling experience that illuminates our own limits (including death) and our need for support. Genuine humility is essential, the most important starting point for a progressive worldview that is effective. Progressive activists need to stop being so arrogant.

With this, my first blog entry, I introduce myself.

Born in Little Rock in 1944 and raised in Dallas, I went to Berkeley to enter the University of California as a freshman in 1962, where I became immersed in the many movements of that era. Since then, I've been deeply involved in personal growth, spiritual development, community organizing, political action, and the celebration of life. After being employed by community-based non-profits for about 20 years, I've worked part-time as a cab driver in San Francisco and done my community work as a volunteer. Recently, I wrote and self-published a 322-page book, Global Transformation: Strategy for Action. I now edit the online Progressive Resource Catalog, promote the development of a Network of Home-Based Communities, and support the Obama Movement.

My life has been devoted to the pursuit of truth, justice, and beauty. As a child, I absorbed all three concerns from my mother.

My pursuit of truth crystallized when I was thirteen shortly after my grandfather died. He and I were very close and his death shook me profoundly. A year later, I heard a fellow student argue that God does not exist and I was intrigued. Having grown up in the fundamentalist South, the notion was entirely new to me. After that student and I became friends, he took me to the public library for my first visit. He led me to the section on philosophy and politics and I quickly became fascinated with the world of ideas. Ignorant and insecure about sex, I sublimated my energies by reading, playing chess, and engaging in heated discussions with a small group of close friends.

My pursuit of justice began in October 1962 during my first semester in college when the Cuban Missile Crisis threatened a global apocalypse and I went to my first demonstration to protest President Kennedy's escalation of that crisis. During my second semester, I heard James Baldwin speak to several thousand students about the civil rights movement. By the time he finished, tears were streaming down my face. Over the next several months, I read most of his writings and then decided to put my body on the line. I've been a political activist ever since.

When I was twenty, I dropped out of college for a year and got a job working as an orderly in the psychiatric ward of Dallas General Hospital. That experience opened my heart to trying to help others who are in pressing need of compassionate support. Though I later concluded that psychiatry has many major faults, I’ve continued to offer other forms of community service. Righteous relationships are a key aspect of pursuing justice.

During that year away from school, my pursuit of beauty took shape as I discovered the “human potential movement,” including meditation, sensory awareness, massage, and “encounter groups.” These experiences enabled me to release long-repressed emotions and opened me to the world of pre-verbal awe.

When I returned to Berkeley to study psychology, the campus was awash with marijuana and LSD and I joined in the experimentation. These experiences and reading books like The Varieties of Religious Experience deepened my appreciation for the beauty of the universe and induced a sense of unity with the life force. Rock music and dancing also frequently led to trance-like altered states of consciousness, as did my discovery of the joys of sexuality.

I also found new meaning in Christianity through the writings of Paul Tillich and other theologians who reinterpreted the Bible for contemporary readers. In 1968, I dedicated my life to organizing “communities of faith, love, and action.” After two years at the Pacific School of Religion, I decided to do this work outside the framework of the institutional church and have done so ever since.

I resisted settling down into a monogamous relationship. And the women with whom I fell in love did not fall in love with me. So I never married and had children. Instead, I’ve immersed myself in my work. I miss not having children, but as Emerson said, for every gain there is a loss and for every loss there is a gain. Having learned how to be alone, I’m now better able to be in relationship – caring relationships of many sorts.

Only recently, I’ve realized that most of my community organizing has been based on implicit assumptions. I have assumed that my colleagues and I have shared basic core principles, that our natural human affection would express itself, and that we would at least from time to time engage together in political action.

Now I want to make those assumptions explicit. Spontaneity is not sufficient. Conscious commitments and structures, both large and small, are also needed.

I want to experience a deeper sense of community with others who clearly commit to ongoing self-improvement, community service, environmental responsibility, political action, and supporting one another in these efforts by setting aside time specifically for that purpose.

I know this approach is not for everyone. Many people prefer to compartmentalize their relationships by meeting different needs with different people. But some of us would like to share more experiences with the same small group of good friends -- while maintaining our closest relationships with our immediate family and others.

I’m just beginning to look for others who share these interests and would like to grow comprehensive, or holistic, communities devoted to transforming our selves, our communities, our culture and our world. It remains to be seen how many people are interested in this approach.

The adventure continues.