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Good faith and good politics

— Photo: AP

LONG JOURNEY AHEAD: The challenges are great for the President-elect.

Barack Obama almost never made it. Ranged against him was an array of distinguished politicians some of whom were serving in public office even before he was born. There was also a woman whose capability, proven track record and passionate following of more than 18 million supporters struck that many cracks for her in the glass ceiling. Indeed from behind the lectern in those early debates, he looked a trifle lost. His now famous message of change and hope for an America riddled with problems at home and abroad had not emerged clearly enough. And yet for all its improbability, Barack Obama stands today at the threshold of history as he becomes the 44th President of The United States, and the first ever African American to hold that high office.

This exhilarating electoral victory after a bitterly polarised campaign, negative until the last moments but giving Barack Obama a convincing win even in the so-called swing states, is a testament to the tenacity and persistence of a man who emerged on the national scene four years ago with an impassioned and inclusive message at the 2004 Democratic national convention. There the junior Senator from Illinois delivered a keynote address that moved the audience to tears. But it was not just sentiment when Barack Obama described a vision of America defined more by unifying traits rather than by divisiveness. He spoke convincingly of a nation bound by a common purpose: “There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America-there’s the United States of America. There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America — there’s the United States of America ... we are one people,” he declared.

This was the conviction and the underlying principle of his 2008 presidential campaign. This was the vision that gave ordinary Americans a sense that somehow they could retrieve some of the standing that they had lost in the world and come together to find the faith to fight for their own lives. How else could a young Senator dubbed by his rival as being the most left-leaning and having the most liberal voting record in the Senate appeal to a nation that is suspicious of words like ‘liberal’ and ‘socialism?’ How else could a biracial candidate who grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia with the improbable name of Barack Obama win enough votes in the parts of America where racial stereotypes run deep, and convince hard-headed conservatives enough about his capacity to lead and to put him over the top?

A comment in The Guardian (quoting a recent editorial in the New Yorker) points out that Mr. Obama’s “transformative message is accompanied by a sense of pragmatism. A tropism for unity is an essential part of his character and his campaign.” It appears that the essence of winning for Mr. Obama lay as much in accommodating other voices and other perspectives without shortchanging himself or abandoning what he felt was the most important message for America: the need to turn the page on eight disastrous years of a failed presidency.

The primary win in the Iowa caucus where he took his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, by surprise was perhaps an early indication that his slogan of change was beginning to resonate with the American people. The triumph of a black candidate in a largely white state was the first real sign that something new was happening in the election campaign.

One of his first campaign pitches before the problems of the economy overwhelmed the electorate was the hammering home of the disastrous costs of the war in Iraq. Standing strong with his record of initial and sustained opposition to the war, Mr. Obama reiterated to a heartsick people anguished by the endless roll of casualties his commitment to end the war in a phased and responsible manner. He also promised to rebuild America’s reviled reputation abroad. When John McCain and Sarah Palin mocked him for offering to “sit down and talk to terrorists,” he still pressed on with diplomacy as a cornerstone of foreign policy. He also never lost an opportunity to specifically remind the voters of the sheer recklessness and deception practised by the Bush administration regarding the military engagement in Iraq.

As Mr. Obama moved forward in the party primaries, propelled by six sensational wins in states that were never considered a possibility, and when he finally wrested the nomination of the Democratic Party from Hillary Clinton, he became more confident and sure footed as a candidate. The campaign was not without its incendiary moments. His association with the black radical preacher, Jeremiah Wright, was troublesome not just for his campaign. It put his personal mettle on test. In true Obama style, he came back with one of his best speeches ever: he spoke honestly and persuasively about the role of race in American society. Political analyst Andrew Rawnsley, writing in The Observer, points out: “It takes one of exceptional quality to turn crisis into opportunity.” Other challenges that came along the way, including old troublesome associations, were handled with carefully considered responses.

The controversy over using public financing for the campaign also periodically reared its head. Mr. McCain accused his rival of going back on his early word to accept public financing. But with the donations pouring in, allowing the candidate to raise unprecedented amounts month after month, Mr. Obama could ill afford to ignore the private contributions. So he rode that one out, like the other thorny issues.

With the final collapse of Wall Street and its impact on Main Street, U.S.A, both candidates had to shift their focus to bread and butter issues. It was obvious that Mr. Obama had the advantage in this area. According to analysts, the Bush administration had turned the Clinton budget surplus of $236 billion spent on defence and tax breaks for the rich into a deficit of nearly $500 billion. Mr. Obama stayed on the economic message until the very end of the campaign, pointing out that electing his rival would be like re-electing George Bush who had wrecked the economy. Accused earlier of playing softball with his opponent, Mr. Obama got very specific. He promised tax cuts for 95 per cent of Americans, regulatory oversight of Wall Street, no bailout for the wealthy, and, most importantly, affordable healthcare for all Americans. He did not flinch when his rivals accused him of wanting to “spread the wealth around.” He did not waver when John McCain prolonged the spotlight on Mr. Obama’s “socialism” by using a new campaign mascot, Joe the plumber, the Everyman whom he claimed to represent.

Good politics is also about carpediem, and Mr. Obama seized the day not just with his economic hard hitting, but also with his astute choice of running mate. Senator Biden’s 36-year Senate experience and impeccable foreign policy credentials clearly complemented him. The choice would also, Mr. Obama hoped, bring him the white working class vote in states like Pennsylvania where he lost to Hillary Clinton in the primaries by a wide margin. Conversely, Mr. McCain’s choice of the folksy Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, initially excited the far right base of the Republican party, but ultimately backfired. Governor Palin, the subject of television comedy, obviously scared away many voters who found themselves feeling unsettled by her staunch conservatism and her simplistic response to critical domestic and foreign policy issues. The attempt by the McCain-Palin duo to raise the bogey that Mr. Obama was an anti-American radical with what Republican critics called “a paper thin resume,” unqualified to lead America into the new century, did not work in the end. The risk was the McCain-Palin ticket.

Mr. Obama’s passage to the big November 4 win was also determined by the awesomely disciplined campaign he ran. Political analysts of numerous presidential runs of the past emphasise that no campaign in recent electoral history has been so tight and well organised as Mr. Obama’s. In contrast, the disarray in the McCain campaign was obvious, more so as the race was reaching the finish line, with even Republican strategists admitting that Mr. McCain appeared more and more erratic and angry at the end.

What sealed the deal for Mr. Obama was his determination to win all of the United States. While he brought in the youth vote in record numbers and ran as a candidate of the new generation, he was equally a candidate for the white middle aged woman who said “she had never been so excited in her life as she was this day.” Mr. Obama enthused a large percentage of African Americans to participate in the electoral process, but he did not just run as an African-American candidate. Writing in The Washington Post on November 4, Eugene Robinson who lived through the civil rights movement describes Mr. Obama’s success as “nothing short of mind-blowing.” More importantly in a nation where racism is still a legacy, Mr. Robinson feels a vindication “in the fact that so many white Americans entrusted a black American with their hopes and dreams.”

The challenges are great for the President-elect, but if his long journey of good faith and good politics is a measure of the man, he is likely to steer America in a new and better direction.

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