I have been thinking a lot lately about Barack Obama.
What is it that made Americans vote into office this largely untested, unproven man? This young man--what is he, like 47? That's like a baby in political years, I think. And of course, most surprisingly, this black man. The son of a Kansas woman and an African immigrant?
I am not a person who thinks much about politics, and even when I do, I am at heart a pragmatist. Which is to say, beating up on George Bush or his mistakes is just boring and unproductive: I am not someone who is extreme or passionate in his political opinions. I remember mocking the tax refund back in 2001, and then gleefully spending it the very instant my check arrived. I could probably easily be convinced that invading Iraq was the right thing to do, if I thought it would help me put a down payment on a house or make me [even more] attractive to women.
So I have been surprised to find myself such an ardent and passionate supporter of Barack Obama, who against all odds was elected President a couple of months ago. But I have been even more surprised at the number of other people, many of them far far less obviously "liberal" in their political thinking than I am, who also have found themselves not just supporters, but enthusiastic supporters, of this man.
I can figure it out for myself, I think--as a pragmatist, the way Obama has already made it clear he plans to work with conservatives rather than against them is very exciting to me. You can complain about all the things you would have gotten done if only the other side hadn't blocked you, but compromising a little and actually getting things done is way better. His lack of interest in chest-beating, in name-calling, is refreshing almost to the point of being alien, at least compared with many of his forebears in the political arena.
But the thing that is harder to figure out is the emotional power of Obama. The thing that turns me and millions--seriously, think about it, millions--of people into supporters. The thing that causes what, 60 or 70 thousand people to show up for a speech? In Germany? And while he was still only a candidate, not the designated president-elect? The thing that made people stand in line for hours and hours just to early vote. The thing that has people still excited even though the country is deep in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression?
Barack Obama is a STATESMAN. It was politics that put him where he is, and it will be politics that allows him to push policy through Congress and effect the sort of change he was voted into office on--politics that is often ugly and cynical but (apparently) necessary in our idiosyncratic system. But it's Obama's Buddha-like calm, his unnerving confidence, his palpable sense of force that makes us listen. It's the way he speaks honestly, and then stops talking when he's done speaking honestly.
Not since Martin Luther King Jr himself has a single man of any race been able to capture the hopes and imagination of the world in such a way. Not since the mighty final chorus of King's great speech have so many people believed so strongly in a man. Not since Martin Luther King Jr was gunned down in cold blood, in a decade where it seemed all great men met this fate, has such a redemptive voice of peace held such sway over so many.
Next week Barack Obama will be inaugurated President of the United States, and the hopes of an entire nation will walk up the steps and take that oath with him. This is the first epochal moment since 9/11, the first moment that history will look back on and differentiate clearly between "pre-" and "post-." From this moment on, every child born will be born into a world where a black man, the son of an immigrant and a single mother, can become the most respected man in the world, and hold the highest office in his country.
For better or worse, I believe in this man as well, and above all else wish him safety and success. This one voice let us keep for a little bit. And in the spirit of Obama, I wish myself the grace and tolerance to be patient with the man when he has to make odd decisions for the greater good. If there's anything we need right now, it's surely greater good. Godspeed, Barack Obama, and rest in peace Dr. King, the intellectual antecedent of our next President. I can't tell you how pleasurable it is to describe him thus.
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