When Bill Clinton ran for President, he brought Hillary into the equation. Bill's appeal: a "two for one." What's not to like about benefitting from the experience and commitment of two accomplished public servants?

So what might Obama bring to the White House?

How about a critical-mass manifestation of George H.W. Bush's "a thousand points of light"?

It's the perfect storm:

• a candidate with a community organizing background;
• expert use of the Internet to efficiently connect and mobilize the masses; and
• a huge and growing database of Obama activists, most of whom have flagged those issues -- Economy, Education, War, etc. -- that personally matter most.

Never before have we had the means and national motive to engage individuals en masse, after an election to contribute to solving social and environmental challenges.

Two words make my Dad Arnold Baum, a WW II veteran who served in the Battle of the Bulge, apoplectic.

Jane Fonda.

Years ago we caught a news clip of Jane, tears streaming, pleading her case against war.

"Bullshit!! She's acting! She's an Oscar-winning actress!" Dad barked at the television.

"She's manipulating us!"

I attempted solidarity, chastising Jane for clomping around that canyon waaay too long in those heels in "The Electric Horseman." Dad didn't bite. Once Hanoi Jane...

So when this clip of a more personable, vulnerable, human Hillary aaaaall ferklempt made the rounds, my gut said: acting.

In contrast, Obama shows a consistency of character that's short in most others. His also-ran address last night was as Presidential as in Iowa.

Hillary's transformation from her Iowa to New Hampshire self has been Kamikaze precise. The critics said...

In 1992 I was living in New York City when the Rodney King verdict and aftermath of riots gave my employer reason to dismiss staff early. The unspoken message: find safe haven, preferably out of dodge.

New York could blow any minute. Unrest was claiming lives and $1 billion in damages from South Central to Las Vegas and Atlanta. Even Seattle.