The Souls of Ordinary Folk: Obama, Hope, and the Promise of Utopia

"This was the moment that it all began..."

~Barack Obama, Iowa Caucas Victory Speech

Surely Barack Obama's victory speech in Iowa will go down as one of the most inspiring moments in recent political history. I have to admit, he even managed to make a believer out of me.

I think what is truly fascinating here is the degree to which Obama stands poised to "unite" the American public in a way that no politician has since Bobby Kennedy. As has now been commented upon on 1,000 web-blogs and podcasts, Obama's victory in Iowa is truly a monumental event. Though cynics will surely mention that the last three presidents did not win Iowa (Bush II, Clinton I, and Reagan), the fact remains that for an African American man to win in a rural, Midwestern state that is 95 percent white cannot be overestimated.

While Clinton has attempted to appeal to the mind (rationale), Obama appeals to the soul (hope). In many ways this election will come down to a battle of emotions, of how the candidates will play with a rhetoric of hope and political futurity.

Listening to Obama, I'm actually reminded of the writings of many mid-twentieth century Frankfurt school Marxist philosophers, particularly the work of Ernst Bloch and Theodero Adorno. In fact, Obama's entire political ideology is thematic zed in the title of one of Bloch's most profound volumes, The Principle of Hope. Bloch's notion of hope as an indexation of what he called a politics of the "not-yet-here" resonates deeply with much of Obama's rhetoric. We can hear the traces of this earlier Marxist tradition when Obama makes comments such as "hope...is all those men and women who are not content to settle on the world as it is, [but instead] who have the courage to remake the world as it should be."

Jose Esteban Munoz, a "queer studies" scholar known in academic circles for his 1999 book, Disidentifications, is actually finishing up a book of the political utility of queer hope (entitled Cruising Utopia: The Politics and Performance of Queer Futurity, forthcoming from NYU Press). Strangely this all relates to Obama's politics.

As Munoz argues in his Cruising Utopia, invocations of "hope" and "utopia" are often dismissed as simply political naivety, however there is actually long history of revolutionary social movements that turned to "hope" as a means of effecting immediate political change. What I love about Obama is that his message of "hope" is not an attempt to obscure the stark material conditions of inequality which structure our present American life, but rather is a message of how we might embrace the future as something that begins now, not later.

Within this formulation, "utopia" is not, as some might quickly assume, a simple rush toward Xanadu or some rainbow-colored never-never land, but rather a fiercely political and bitter critique of the present. Obama suddenly becomes a modern day CLR James. On a side note, Clinton needs to knock Obama in New Hampshire in order to avoid serious trouble. Following New Hampshire the next major caucus state is South Carolina on January 26, a region with a substantial African American vote. Up until now, the black vote has been split between Clinton and Obama primarily because African American voters have been reluctant to back Obama because there has been concern about his actual electability (i.e. "Is it really possible for a black man to win the U.S. presidency?").

The results of Iowa respond with a screaming, booming "yes."

Let's see what the (near) future holds. I'm "hoping" for the best.

Comments

[SeanGardner]

I am with you on this: Obama's Iowa speech last Thursday night will go down as one of the best political speeches in history. Bar none.

And you wrote something that was interesting: "While Clinton has attempted to appeal to the mind (rationale), Obama appeals to the soul (hope)." This is a good point. In 2005, a great book came out called "AppleBees America". Its a great book that reveals how successful political messages are cultivated. Indeed, they are cultivated by appealing to people's "HEART" first. Because when you have someone's heart, capturing their "MIND" will subsequently be an easier task.

I don't fault Obama for this strategy at all. In fact, Hillary could have employed this strategy herself. I think she just believed that Obama would not be that much of a factor, and that his strategy of reaching out to young people and disaffected voters would not propel his campaign to success.

This is just the beginning. The impending New Hampshire victory for Obama won't be icing on the cake, but Obama will definitely be that much closer to being the party nominee.

Obama baby!!

[duboisist]

The Frankfurt school? Really?

How about his goal:

"Critical thought strives to define the irrational character of the established rationality (which becomes increasingly obvious) and to define the tendencies which cause this rationality to generate its own transformation."

and this reality (at least as he saw it):

"Self-determination, the autonomy of the individual, asserts itself in the right to race his automobile, to handle his power tools, to buy a gun, to communicate to mass audiences his opinion, no matter how ignorant, how aggressive, it may be."

from Herbert Marcuse.
Where do you think Obama-mania fit in here?

[ButterflyWeed]

For a large percentage of American voters, attaining "Utopia" has become our approaching prospect of burying Rove/Bush/Cheney control. R/B/C's combined quest for Utopia has resulted in the current drowning of the Republican Party. I can't recall a single friend or neighbor bringing up Marxist philosospy in the upcoming elections.

[teahead]

OBAMA/FEINGOLD 2008!

[xcrunner77]

Careful. I'm an Obama supporter but he has never promised utopia. That's what the other "Santa Claus" candidates have always promised. It's always some version of "I'm going to give you everything you want and it will be free. In fact, I'll throw in a tax cut."

Obama has never made such promises. He has said on more than one occasion "I will not be a perfect President." He has promised only to bring everyone together in the best possible spirit to try to solve difficult problems. He never said it would be easy. In fact, he's been upfront about the fact that it will be hard. But he's also upfront in his confidence that we can do it.

This is another reason people respond to him. They hear the ring of truth in his voice: not always pleasant easy answers, because those are rarely the truth. But truthful optimism, that promises a dedication to getting through the difficult times while being honest that there will be difficult times.

It's been a long time since we've heard such truth. Many of us have never heard it before in our lives. But we still know it when we hear it. And oh, how we long for that voice to prevail. Pretty soon we'll find out if enough of us want to hear the truth, or if we'd rather go back to the easy sleep of pleasant lies. I'm betting on truth this time.

[wmnorton]

People keep confusing winning the nomination and wining the office. They seem to forget that there is no real prize there. Yes it is possible that Obama could win the nomination. Democrats who are not black tend to be very tolerant of our differences. As I like to say, "Not all Republicans are racist but all the racist vote Republican."

[zizyphus]

Obama can lead our country, if older Americans can let go of their prejudices. That is the big question. It is clear that the younger generation is, for the most part, ready to accept people of any color or gender. The social progress of the 60s wasn't entirely lost it seems.

The reticence on the part of black voters initially will crumble as they see that Obama can win the presidency. He represents the hopes and dreams of working class folks of all kinds. He gives us hope, just seeing him, and listening to him. His integrity is palpable. I think that is why so many are drawn to him.

My gay friends think he is anti-gay, and will vote for Clinton. I don't know Obama's feelings about gays, but he needs to reach out to that community, he will need them come election day.

[StephenSmoliar]

At the risk of drowning in too much philosophy, you would do well to add Isaiah Berlin to the mix, particularly where the concept of utopia is concerned. From Berlin's point of view, ATTAINING a utopia is tantamount to death, for the simple reason that, once you are there, you no longer have anywhere to go; so you sit there in your ideal state without having a life worth living any more. In Frankfurt-speak the point is that there is ALWAYS a "not-yet-here;" but that is not cause for Sysiphus-like frustration. Put another way, life is worth living only when there is always another "objective" for hope. Now, really, do you think our gratification-obsessed electorate is going to be comfortable with such a revelation?