Obama Reflects in Poland
This past weekend, Obama left Poland, where he was confronted with the shortfalls that have plagued his presidency in the past seven years: politics, guns, race and war. These seemed to confront him no matter where he went during his two-day stop in the Polish capital of Warsaw. Obama has said he isn’t keen to comment on his legacy, saying he’d rather leave that to history (coincidentally, the same thing Bush said as his reign winded down). Obama has said that he’s more focused on finishing his presidency, and his approval rating among Americans is the highest it’s been in years. Yet that doesn’t mean the realities of his presidency have been forgotten.
In his visit to Poland, Obama made three additional speeches decrying gun violence. He was also plagued by the awkward position of fighting racism while also championing the police, two positions that are starting to become mutually exclusive. This isn’t the first time he’s tried to balance these sentiments, although a Pew poll revealed most Americans don’t think he’s made much progress on race relations. While Obama has recognized that, he also emphasized that such change takes time.
While Obama was focused on what’s going on at home, the European leaders in Warsaw this week were desperate for reassurance from him. Europe is in a precarious position: with the rise of the far right, the weakening of the EU and the influx of refugees, it’s a region with major change. While the consequences of the Brexit vote remain unknown, Obama has urged leaders to execute a responsible divorce between Britain and the EU, and his talks with David Cameron this past weekend were tinged with an air of sadness.
In the face of staunch opposition by the GOP, the mantra of the Obama Administration has been slow progress. How this slow progress continues will be determined by the next President; if Trump gets elected, it will most likely be undone, while it will most likely continue if Clinton gets elected.
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Hillary Clinton’s Faith
Yesterday morning, Hillary Clinton spent her time describing Trump as unfit to serve as President (what else is new?), then, in a surprising twist, spent the rest of the day presenting herself as the only religious candidate. Considering that most democratic candidates have shied away from religion for a while, this is an interesting twist. Where would it come from? Maybe, just maybe, it had to do with the fact that she was speaking to the annual session of the National Baptist Convention, making the case that her faith has guided her since childhood.
Speaking to a large audience, Clinton reminisced about her childhood, discussing her praying father, Sunday School-teaching mother and minister, who took her white suburban church group into inner-city Chicago, and even brought them to listen to Martin Luther King, Jr. While one can’t help but think this is pandering, it’s a far cry from her typical speeches, typically based around attacking Trump. Clinton says that it was her church that encouraged her to embrace a social activist faith. Quoting scripture, she spoke of living up to the responsibility described by the Prophet Micah: “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God”.
Clinton has a long history of being perceived as robotic, cold and barely even human. Concerned that her affirmative message and Trump-bashing isn’t making enough of a splash, Clinton and her team has been making a newfound effort to present its candidate in a more positive light. If she can peel off faith voters skeptical of Trump’s religious bona fides, then that’s easy pickings. Yesterday, a post on the Humans of New York website featured a post from a surprisingly candid Clinton, acknowledging that many view her as cold and aloof.
Addresses like yesterday’s, focused on humanizing Clinton, will now most likely be the main focus for a woman that a recent CNN/ORC survey revealed is now viewed favorably by just 42 percent of likely voters. Next Tuesday, Clinton will be having policy-based talks about building an inclusive economy, national service and working for families and children.
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About Nelson Lewis
An exposure to politics at a young age had a profound effect on media maven Nelson Lewis, who worked as a volunteer for numerous Republican politicians in and around his native Savannah. Nelson worked as a reporter and eventually anchor at two Savannah television stations growing up, WJCL ABC-22 and WTGS FOX-28, also recording voice teasers for airing on Fridays on WJCL-FM KIX 96 and previewing his upcoming stories, which aired on the Sunday evening news.
One of Nelson’s favorite experiences at WJCL was reporting live from the St. Patrick’s Day Parade (America’s second largest) from 1998-2000. Continuing in the spirit of his grandfather’s pioneering and trailblazing footsteps (he was the first to bring all-color television and stereo to the Savannah market), Nelson became the first person in Savannah market to bring a kid’s perspective to local news as its first youth reporter. In fact, one of the competing stations, WSAV NBC-3 hired their own youth reporter, Sean Champion, 18 months after Nelson began his reports and WJCL/TGS’s ratings dramatically increased.
Work In Political Media
While a sophomore and junior at Lynn University, Nelson Lewis hosted “Politijam”, a lively political debate show that became well known across the university campus and served as the media editor of the univeristy’s weekly EPulse newspaper. While at Lynn, Nelson was selected to represent the entire undergraduate student population as a member of Lynn University’s Academic Task Force, charged with the duty of streamlining the core curriculum of the universities.
While attending Lynn’s College of International Communication, Nelson developed a friendship with Irving R. Levine, a well-known and nationally recognized correspondent for NBC News who became the network’s first full time economics correspondent, and was the creator of the precursor to CNBC. After a 45-year career in journalism, Levine went on to become Dean of Lynn’s communication program. After finishing college, Nelson Lewis followed Levine’s suggestion and moved to Washington, DC where his first job was as a press intern for a Republican congressman, which then led to a job booking at the Fox News Channel from 2006-2010. Here, he was able to put his love of politics and interest in the Republican Party to good use.
Upon the suggestion of Mr. Levine, Nelson Lewis enrolled in the Masters of Professional Studies in Journalism (International Politics) program at Georgetown University in 2009, where a special emphasis was placed on the dissolution of America’s Fairness Doctrine and on the major player in its demise, Bruce Fein.
Nelson was honored to be invited to speak at a roast honoring Levine’s 2009 death at the National Press Club, where he spoke alongside Levine family members and contemporaries such as former Meet the Press Moderator Marvin Kalb. He subsequently wrote a letter to the editor published in The Hill newspaper eulogizing Levine as a “top-notch raconteur” who many others have tried to emulate.
From his work at Fox News, Nelson Lewis was able to take a firsthand role in the DC journalism scene, and was blessed with the opportunity of meeting entertainment, political, and academic luminaries on a daily basis, including numerous sitting and former representatives, senators, governors and cabinet secretaries. These unique experiences gave Nelson a front row seat to many historic events and gave him a firsthand experience of how the Washington system works, from how laws are created to how news is made.
Through Nelson Lewis’ work creating Her Golf Network, coupled with his extensive booking experiences in segment producing gained at America’s highest rated cable news channel and through his time performing key internships at places such as WPBT’s Nightly Business Report in Miami, where he honed his scriptwriting skills, and at WTOC in Savannah, where he provided copyediting and on-site production assistance at the 2004 Sea Island G-8 summit, have provided him with a solid foundation and understanding of the news business. His time as a reporter/anchor growing up prior to his undergraduate studies helped him get an early start at doing what he loves most, reporting.
