Roger Wilkins knows Washington, and Roger Wilkins knows how much Washington needs to change.



Wilkins worked in the Johnson Administration as an Assistant Attorney General and later became the first black member of the Washington Post's editorial board. During his years at the Washington Post, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Watergate scandal. In the years to follow, Wilkins has served as the editor of a major newspaper (the now-defunct Washington Star), the first black columnist for the New York Times, a leader of the Free South Africa movement, and a distinguished Professor at George Mason University, where he still teaches today.

This week Wilkins traveled across South Carolina to share his reasons for supporting Barack's candidacy.



During a discussion yesterday with communications students at the College of Charleston, Wilkins emphasized Barack's aim of creating more transparency in our goverment.

I have observed and written about a government that was reluctant to give information to the public, and I worked in a government that was systematically deceiving the people about what was going on in the war in Vietnam. I am convinced that most important freedom we have among all the freedoms in the Bill of Rights is to know what the people in charge... are doing as they make policy for us and for our children... and I couldn't agree more [with Barack's position on improving transparency in government].

For Wilkins, Barack's commitment to transparency is reflected in the way he wants to approach the challenges facing the country, a style defined by a willingness to hear opinions that differ from his own and conduct open, honest dialogue with the American people about the decisions he'll make.

[Barack is] a brilliant man with an extraordinary gift for listening to other human beings. He doesn't have the attitude that "I'm the smartest person in the room." He has the attitude that "I need to listen to other people, reason with other people to figure out how we can get out of this mess.

Barack's openness to hear different opinions is one reason Wilkins is confident that Barack has what it's going to take to effect the fundamental change America needs.