With spooky coincidence, last week marked both the 40th anniversary of U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy's assassination -- and the winning by U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of the prize RFK had sought.

I was involved in Bobby Kennedy's campaign for President, which was so abruptly and tragically ended in the pantry of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, just after he claimed victory in the California primary election. Kennedy's campaign began in the anguish of an unpopular and stalemated war. In that long-ago era, he didn’t even make up his mind to enter the race until March 16!

And yet, he had a real shot at the nomination -- especially after President Lyndon Johnson's decision two weeks later not to run for re-election. The country desperately wanted change. The war in Viet Nam looked as though it was going to go on forever, while the cultural revolution of the 1960s was in full swing.

With LBJs withdrawal, Vice President Hubert Humphrey became the establishment candidate for President, with the original insurgent, U.S. Eugene McCarthy, still draining the anti-war vote. But nobody really thought McCarthy could win, and many younger, anti-establishment folks swung – hard – to Bobby Kennedy.

A small group of us in Michigan, including current Democratic National Committee Member and MSU Trustee Joel Ferguson, joined together to battle the party regulars. It was a struggle against considerable odds, but by early June, we felt we were fighting the machine to a standstill in terms of pledged delegates.

The national convention in Chicago was still more than two months away the night of the California primary, a close-fought affair between Kennedy and McCarthy. Exhausted, I spent the night at my parents' house near Ann Arbor. I never will forget the shock when my mother came into my room the next morning. She was in tears.

"I'm so sorry, but I must tell you that Bobby Kennedy was assassinated last night." The room spun; my heart stopped. My tears flowed. Actually, he did not die until early the next morning, but the dream had died when the shots were fired.

I had been deeply moved by the potential RFK had to bind back together our deeply divided country. He appealed to black and white, working-class stiffs and Ivy League graduates, the poor, the disenfranchised, those who were alarmed by labor scandals and the Mafia. For a time, it seemed as though his spirit and humble charisma could call us all together as Americans.

In August, we went off to the convention in Chicago. In a gesture of respect, the convention managers played a film about RFK's life. Things paused. And we all surged onto the convention floor and began spontaneously to sing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," one of the Kennedy campaign's theme songs.

We sang. And we sang. And they turned out the lights to shut us up. And we sang on. And on. We must have been there for an hour: Defiant, angry, weeping. And finally we walked out of the convention hall to find our country a diminished place where the sun might have shone but where the lights of hope had been dimmed.

Fast forward forty years. Last week we saw another young senator emerge as a Presidential nominee. I'm not sure how his candidacy will develop; he's relatively young and inexperienced.

But many voters are motivated by the nature of his appeal: He seems to want to go beyond conventional, partisan, bickering politics and knit our country back together again.

So in some ways, Obama's appeal reminds me of Bobby Kennedy's. Which is why the coincidence in one week of his clinching his party's nomination and the anniversary of RFK's death was so spooky … so scary … and so moving.

In Michigan, so many of us are dismayed by what seems like endless bickering between political leaders who can’t seem to get get on with the urgent business of saving our state.
After two years of research, lots of thought and much talk, there does seem to be a common-ground consensus agenda on what is needed to transform Michigan: A talented and globally competitive workforce. A vibrant economy and great quality of life. Effective, efficient and accountable government. A virtuous intellectual and leadership circle that hums with promise and informed hope.

It is also clear that what is lacking at the state level is both a sense of urgency and the political will needed to actually get things done. As for the urgency, it’s now clear Michigan is at a hinge of our history. The decisions we will make over the next decade will go a long way to determining what kind of state we will have in the next half century or more.

And as to political will, it all begins and ends with leadership and a vision that pulls us together. This year, a new generation has been inspired by Barack Obama’s claim to a new, better kind of politics.

Whether we support him or not, here in Michigan we must find that same kind of inspiring leadership – not solely Republican, not only Democratic, but both – leadership that can bring us together to improve our state's prospects for a prosperous future.

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Editor’s Note: Former newspaper publisher and University of Michigan Regent Phil Power is a longtime observer of Michigan politics and economics, and a former chairman of the Michigan chapter of the Nature Conservancy. He is also the founder and president of The Center for Michigan, a centrist think-and-do tank which publishes the Michigan Scorecard. The opinions expressed here are Power’s own and do not represent the official views of The Center. He welcomes your comments at ppower@thecenterformichigan.net.