rssObama’s Victory as Progress, Not History
Tuesday, November 04, 2008 at 10:32 pm
- 8 Comments
Chicago, Ill — This victory is more than historic. President-elect Barack Obama’s victory marks political progress far broader than race — especially because his campaign de-emphasized it whenever possible.
The tens of thousands of people cheering here in Grant Park, at what is shaping up to be one of the largest victory celebrations in U.S. political history, are not just heralding another barrier broken in America. They are honoring a promise fulfilled — the advancement of a rare political leader who addresses the public honestly, engages his opponents respectfully and communes with his supporters openly. He built an agenda through a participatory politics that empowers organizers and upends civic culture by expanding the electorate.
In political terms, that means that Obama did not win “red states” Tuesday by treating them like red states. He did not energize his base by neglecting it. He did not convert wing voters by pandering to their occupational and cultural identities. After all the soundbites piled up, in fact, it was still Obama who had an actual policy conversation with Joe the Plumber, while Sen. John McCain invoked the everyman as a human prop.
Across the country, people, with their votes and their activism, are embracing the “change” agenda. Some scuffling over credit, priorities and ideology is inevitable, but the basics are clear: end the Iraq war; renew the economy; conquer corruption; prioritize alternative energy; pursue universal health care; and renew our civic life with a politics of good faith. It is ambitious, difficult and long overdue.
8 Comments
Comment posted November 5, 2008 @ 6:20 am
The Messiah is here he cure credit problems, he will legislate the same ideology for all, he will end war, he will cure economic failure, he will stop global warming, he will cure everyones health problems. Hopefully on inaguaration day flanked by Farrukan and Wright we can hear those beautiful words GodD#$mn America
Comment posted November 5, 2008 @ 6:30 am
Act one of the play is over, the election has been decided. However, we still have to get through the rest of the story that is Obama's first term. It was an exciting night for democracy, with records being set everywhere. Lets hope that enthusiasm effervesces up and we all work together over the next four years to pull ourselves out of the hole that we dug. It should never be put squarely on the shoulders of the President to make changes, changes has to come from the bottom up. Obama has the ability to energize people, more so than McCain, and it's that kind of energy we need right now, along with some fresh ideas.
OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW!
Comment posted November 5, 2008 @ 6:55 am
(HISTORY) bad tatse of war, bad tatse of economy, 1923 another country was also swept up by a messiah like leader this would be post WW1 Germany.
Comment posted November 5, 2008 @ 7:14 am
So are you saying Obama is going to round up all the Jews in internment camps?
Comment posted November 5, 2008 @ 3:03 pm
jp, in response to your two posts:
The 1923 Beer Hall Putsch was a failed coup d'état attempt. Within days after the putsch, Hitler was arrested and charged with high treason. Hitler was sentenced to five years in jail. 10 years later he finally rose to power. Obama was elected by a majority of over 7 million votes. You are not just comparing apples to oranges; you are comparing apples to elephants. So therefore there is no comparison, just failed logic. At least President-elect Obama is willing to deal with our credit problems, economic failure, global warming, healthcare and ending war, which is more than can be said for the current administration.
Comment posted November 5, 2008 @ 5:20 pm
CaptRuss not comparing just repeating reasons for change.
Comment posted November 5, 2008 @ 11:03 pm
jp, in response to your two posts:
The 1923 Beer Hall Putsch was a failed coup d'état attempt. Within days after the putsch, Hitler was arrested and charged with high treason. Hitler was sentenced to five years in jail. 10 years later he finally rose to power. Obama was elected by a majority of over 7 million votes. You are not just comparing apples to oranges; you are comparing apples to elephants. So therefore there is no comparison, just failed logic. At least President-elect Obama is willing to deal with our credit problems, economic failure, global warming, healthcare and ending war, which is more than can be said for the current administration.
Comment posted November 6, 2008 @ 1:20 am
CaptRuss not comparing just repeating reasons for change.
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
