While my fellow college students and millions of others have gotten swept into the Barack Obama insanity, I have remained relatively unimpressed by the presidential candidate. To me it seems that Mr. Obama is little more than a facade; an icon for change and progressivism, while allowing the masses to forget that a true agent of political progression would never come so close to being the nation's leader if not via the means of force. Indeed, in my perception, Obama was actually stealing the spotlight from fellow Democratic presidential candidates who may very well have been more progressive than him.
Obama, for example, as much of an apparent proponent of change as he is, still kisses the asses of the ever-powerful villains who manipulate the words of the 2nd Amendment so that they can tote a weapon designed solely for the purpose of murder. What's more, he caters to the rich—perhaps more importantly he is a member of this socioeconomic class—and as such ignores many of the issues that the common man faces. Nevertheless, the mere fact that he initiated his bid for the presidency by using words like "hope" and "change" demonstrates just how far rhetorical skill can carry a politician with the assistance of an ever-so-educated political populace. Yet perhaps it is this simple fact that makes Obama the best of our current selections in this pivotal moment in United States history.
I stand by my primary concerns that Barack Obama will demonstrate little concern and/or action in the fields most necessary. He will still represent the few—and they will be the few who least need representation. At most, that is to say even if we give Obama the benefit of the doubt, the few in most dire need of assistance and representation will still walk away empty-handed. This inevitably is based on the fact that no matter how much one idolizes Obama, it cannot be denied that he plays the cliché role of American politician. Capitalism means that his success is directly dependent on following the money and that means that he would never be willing to silence or even control the big businesses and elite who will undoubtedly continue to corrupt his politics. As is so often the case, Mumia Abu-Jamal said it best: "High poverty signals capitalism triumphant."
Barack Obama isn't doing much. He's bringing in record numbers of campaign donations. He's getting a lot of media attention and criticizing the Clinton Machine. But he still lacks the revolutionary sentiment that his ardent followers seem to associate him with. The one thing he is doing is bringing democracy, that is the voice of the people, back to the voting aspect of democracy. Love it or hate it, we are a Republican and Southern president nation, and it has seldom been more apparent than in contemporary times. To date, there have been four presidents in my lifetime; three from the South, three Republicans. The lone Democrat, Bill Clinton, sacrificed many of the ideals of the Democratic Party, perhaps portraying himself as a Democrat only in the fact that he knew how to handle the economy, something Republicans pride themselves on having the inability to do for one reason or another. Obama is our chance to return to the days of Johnson and Kennedy, albeit inclusive of their foreign policy, and perhaps go one step further.
Obama probably won't do as much for the poor as President Johnson or engage in ideals-to-practice quite as efficaciously as President Kennedy but what he probably will do is bring Democratic values back to the Democratic Party. He may finally put a halt to the bipartisan effort to dismantle any sort of welfare state, he may be a step in the right direction on issues such as healthcare and education. Simply because he is a Democrat, he will probably even be able to successfully manage the economy.
The thing that Obama is doing is getting out the Democratic vote. We're a nation of red voters, not necessarily a red population. Like never before the Democrats are rushing out to vote in the primaries. The fact that the Democratic primary in Florida did not even count in terms of delegates did not deter Democrats from going to the polls. In fact, the red state of Florida in which the Republican primaries DID count saw an almost equal number of Democratic and Republican primary voters this year. Between his silly rhetoric, his race and his appeal to the young, Obama has been able to mobilize the Democratic vote in revolutionary ways. It may be the one thing about him that is in all actuality revolutionary.
We as American citizens are unfortunately a long way from revolution so we have to temporarily settle for reform in the electoral process. The first step is to get a Democrat in the White House, an actual Democrat. At this point, Obama is not only the most viable candidate for such a position, he is the only one who fits that description. Secondly, we need a leader unlike any other in several generations of United States presidents. That is to say, we need a leader, not a politician. I am by no means a nationalist or a patriot but it hurts my image when the world looks at us and calls us a bunch of fools because three in every four people in our country think the President is doing a terrible job. American politics equals more than just a marriage with capital, it is also synonymous with necessary cynicism. With the support behind him and his supposed dedication to hope and change, one can only hope that he can initiate the necessary removal of this necessary cynicism.
I have long found myself infatuated with Latin American politics for a number of reasons, one of them being the constituents’ undying dedication to their leaders. The masses that gather when Castro holds a rally, those who fought for Salvador Allende by literally swallowing the barrel of a gun, the chants of "Peron!" in Argentina, the populist campaigns that Omar Torrijos ran on in Panama or even the modern-day citizen resistance to a coup in Venezuela. You don't have to know what I am talking about, you just have to know that it can exist. This is not unique to Latin America; the love and respect for your leader should not be feared, shunned or unwelcomed, it should be embraced. In perhaps the most strange comparison, Barack Obama carries an almost Hitler-like aura in that he can say anything and the people will cheer, scream and rally behind him.
This is not a call for a Nazi equivalent United States, it is a citizen's desperate cry for a leader that can be positively discussed, as opposed to the alternative spelling of the word which applies to the manner with which we currently view our leaders: disgust. Latin American populists and European fascists are able to engage the masses in politics and have them rally behind their national figureheads because they promise their constituents one major change or another. Currently, all of the wrong people determine politics in the United States because the promises made to us are empty and redundant. Barack Obama has the ability to change that and more importantly, the ability to set the platform that those who succeed him will be forced to abide by.
Realistically, if Barack Obama becomes President Obama in a few months time, there will not be significant change in significant areas. The economy may turn around but economic inequality will still thrive, people will still sleep in the streets and the government will ignore the plight of the poor except in the judicial system where they will be met with the harshest of all forms of classism, matched only by the education system. But for once, it isn't all about politics. This time we need to accept the fact that we have to deal with what is currently presented before us and right now we need a leader. We have a Harry Truman telling us what to do and making decisions in the name of our country. The people do not trust our President, they did not trust the one before him, nor the one before him. Distrust and politics go hand-in-hand in the United States and if Obama is unable to change that, I am unsure that any politician will be able to.
If Barack Obama gets the Democratic nomination this year then the Democrats will probably win the election. A major portion of the increase in voters in the Democratic Party this year is the black vote, almost unanimously in Obama's favor. Blacks tend to vote Democrat far more often than not but they also typically have a very low voter turnout. As Jesse Jackson has often discussed extensively, were blacks in the United States to have voted in greater numbers in past elections, they would have been the determining factor. And if it is true that the young are liberal then Barack Obama has only helped to mobilize the vote in that area as well. Sean Combs wishes he could have rocked the vote in these two demographics so well.
It is not Obama's policy or approach to policy that makes him such a crucial candidate, nor is it his relatively hollow promises of change. Rather it is the change that he may not have even intentionally caused; the mass mobilization of Democratic voters who have previously not participated in presidential elections. For if they are the ones who influence the final decision in this election, with any intellectual application they will realize that it is they who hold the power to elect our next leader. With the assumption that this concept works as well in the real world as it does on paper, Obama's successor could equally be far more progressive and what many have already deemed the Red Century could quickly be the return to progressivism in the United States.
Yes, we need someone to clean up after Bush. Yes, we need someone to reform Washington politics. But what we need more than anything is a leader over a politician, an individual who is loved and respected by those who comprise the populace of his nation, not distrusted and looked upon with menacing eyes. It is undeniable that those who rally for their leader, that those who respect their chosen candidate in a manner that parallels Latin American revolutionaries, are for Barack Obama and no other. He can rally the Democratic vote and on an equal level of importance, he can make his country love their leader. On the basis of this alone, I am endorsing Barack Obama for the 2008 Presidential Election. Move over, Kennedy.
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Very interesting blog!