Barack Obama: The Politics of Hope

It is no coincidence that Barack Obama travelled to his inauguration along the same train route that Abraham Lincoln took to his. Just as the 16th president had to restore his nation from the damage wrought by the civil war, Obama is dealing in the hopes and dreams of a divided nation, economically on it's knees and unsure of the future. After 8 years under George Bush, where America's stock has fallen dramatically on the world stage (literally and metaphorically) Obama, and all he stands for is a breath of fresh air. His rallying cry of 'yes we can' stands in stark contrast to the dark mood that currently abounds, and lies at the heart of his popularity. He has harnessed the power of hope, he has promised something different, something new, a better future.

Obama developed this agenda back at the Democratic convention in 2004 during the speech that brought him to the attention of the public at large and laid the foundation for his campaign 4 years later "Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?... I'm not talking about blind optimism here -- the almost wilful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don't talk about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. No, I'm talking about something more substantial. It's the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker's son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope!" It is a theme he has continued with his best-selling book 'The Audacity of Hope' and one that has got him to the most powerful office in the world.

Barack Obama is very deliberately standing in the line of Lincoln, Roosevelt, JFK and Martin Luther King, as visionaries and revolutionaries who changed the face of America, and indeed the world. He promises to unite people who previously stood divided and transform an ailing nation. In some senses this is a dangerous game, as it raises expectation levels through the roof, but then again nothing truly significant was ever achieved without the desire to see it happen. He is the first genuinely exciting political figure my generation can call their own, and if nothing else having young people excited about politics is a huge step forward in and of itself. He gives us the hope to get involved, believing we can make a difference, instead of breeding the cynicism and mistrust that Blair, Bush and the rest all engendered.

For me, the hope of Obama is that he will launch a program of progressive politics that will reconcile rather than divide, look to the needs of the people rather than pander to special interests (such as big oil or the religious right), and re-establish America's moral authority in world affairs, to say nothing of his environmental credentials compared to the blinding, dangerous ignorance of his predecessor. Obama has the potential to be one of the great Presidents, he is incredibly intelligent, very articulate and sure of his convictions. He has already changed the face of American politics, and I hope he continues along that theme.

However in amongst all of this excitement we need to be realistic. He faces the worst economic crisis for 80 years, is saddled with two difficult wars and has to undo much of the damage done by George Bush Jnr. The bottom line is Barack Obama is not the saviour of the world, but he does have the opportunity to make a positive difference. He has both congress and the senate with him, which gives him a great opportunity to drive through legislation and effect change in a meaningful way. The fact that he has promised to shut down Guantanamo Bay by executive order in his first week in power is a good start, and will hopefully be the first of many sweeping actions that do away with the worst excesses of the Bush era and replace them with something far more positive. There is a sense of new beginning, of fresh new energies brought to bear on the enormous problems of our time and it is good.

But it seems appropriate to end this post with a quote from Martin Luther King "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." There is no doubt Barack Obama is facing challenge and controversy, and how he deals with it will dictate the success or otherwise of his presidency. I just pray he can deliver on the hope he has brought into the White House, and proves to be the man of change he is seeking to be.