Ariana Huffington wrote in response to Barack Obama's win in Iowa, "tonight voters decided that they didn't want to look back. They wanted to look into the future." No matter what your political views or who you're voting for in 2008, Huffington makes a strong point. The United States is making a statement by voting for Obama, bigger than race and bigger than party identity. Americans voting for Obama are voting for a man that seems to represent change, a pulling back from the fear politics associated with the White House after 9/11. Obama represents the hope that all American share, a hope and ideal that the country was founded on: the pursuit of happiness. Americans have turned this famous phrase from the Declaration of Independence into a cause celebre, bringing America its reputation for a land where one can start over, where with hard work anyone can achieve their dreams. This is just the kind of promise Obama brings. For Americans, the Senator from Illinois harkens to the idea that the US is a profoundly unique country - one distinguished by its unfaltering hope that things can be better, that we, as a society, can be better. In a world where upholding the status quo and complacency have become good enough, Obama tells us that it's not, that perhaps things can be better.
As I discussed America's unique position in the world with my father, an immigrant from Pakistan, he said that for all we complain, America is a wonderful place to live. And I agree, because in America I can say with complete conviction that I want a better world, and a better America. Perhaps Barack Obama can bring that promise.
* The views expressed in this column reflect those of the writer only and not those of the Roosevelt Institution, its executive committee, or its members.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
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While I do feel that Barack Obama is a great man with quite enough hope to go around, my hesitation in getting 100% behind him is in his idealism and romanticism of the process. Hope is all very well and good, but other than giving you a nice a cozy feeling deep down in your soul, what good is it really? Hopeful is a great feeling, but what about realistic? I am all for giving people a choice for change, but at the same time, shouldn't we be a little pragmatic? Obama preaches about change, but the American system was not built to change quickly, or even slowly, but more at a glacial pace, and despite global warming's help, the glaciers of Washington, DC are not going to budge too terribly far in 4 years. I hear people's reactions coming from his rallies and events, some people are even moved to tears, exclaiming that he makes them feel that the impossible is possible. That's great, if I'm watching an infomercial. But I'm voting, hopefully for someone who can, for once, deliver, and by setting the American people up with hope for a changed system, with a new idea of politics, and new faces in the system, one just hopes that you can deliver, or else face the disappointment of becoming yet another lying, dirty politician.
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