What Obama's Win Means
Lincoln's reelection meant the union was worth fighting for. Franklin Roosevelt's was a rejection of Hoover's conservatism. Kennedy marked a new era in politics. Reagan marked the ascendancy of the conservative movement.
But what does the election of Barack Obama mean?
Books and doctoral thesis will be written on the topic. Conferences will be held at Harvard that are covered by C-SPAN. But here is a list to think about.
1. Justice is righteous. The first and most obvious meaning is that if you screw up the country in such a catastrophic way that hurts people's lives the country will rise up and kick your ass out of office.
2. America has changed. A new governing progressive majority has emerged. It is made up of young and old, rich and poor, white and people of color. Cities united with suburbs. AMERICA elected Obama. Not swing white voters in southeastern Ohio or single women in the suburbs of Philadelphia. This majority was made up of everybody. This point will get lost since there is no constituency group for "everybody."
3. Young people can change the world. Even while no one group owns the victory it is clear that young people played an historic role in this win. A new generation will be inspired to change the world.
4. The movement will grow. Thousands of organizers have been trained and instilled with confidence. They will spin off and help organize social movements in their own communities. Some will run for office--and maybe one will become a community organizer and someday run for president.
5. Progressive ideas are what Americans want. We went into the election with an alignment between progressives on the Left and more centrist voters. On the big issues--Iraq, the economy, energy and health care. Left and center agree. The war will end. Things will change.
6. The Internet dominates. The Internet has replaced the mainstream media finally as the dominant source of news information and fact-checking. Thank god because the mainstream media is getting cut to pieces. HuffingtonPost has created a mega-force--it is now among the top most visited news websites on the Internet. You can't lie to the public and get away with it. The "series of tubes" will get you.
7. Politics can be sexy. John McCain didn't inspire artists like Shepard Fairey and Will.I.Am. These artists made the Obama-McCain matchup into a fight between McGrumpy and Jay-Z. Easy choice.
8. The 1960s are over. As Andrew Sullivan wrote, the fights of the 1960s over hippies and cultural populism are losing their potency. The Right has lost their ability to hijack our politics--for now.
9. People power can make a difference. Volunteers can make a difference. I heard a story about a field organizer in part of Colorado with a universe of 38,000 voters to turn out--and 1,500 volunteers. An amazing coverage of one volunteer for 25 voters.
10. We can be inspired. A message about Hope, Progress and Change can lift us up and appeal to our better angels. As Barack Obama says, "One voice can change the world."
But "meaning" is a big term. So let the debate begin. Add what Obama's win means for you in the comments.
On a personal note, Obama's win and the gains in the House and Senate is the culmination of long and hard fight for me as an organizer. I've spent the last 8 years battling the Republicans and the far Right with MoveOn.org and others. Finally, I can unclench the fists and put my hands to work changing the world. That is a personal meaning. I look forward to it.
Follow Tom Matzzie on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Matzzie
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Obama's victory is based on either:
1. A rejection of conservatism (and to invest in infrastructure, education, energy independence, health care), or
2. A rejection of ideology altogether (certainly a rejection of gridlock that it causes)
Both reasons have been put forth -- I tend to think it is both 1 and 2.
#1
No ones ass got kicked out of the White House!!! Bush was elected 2 times he served 2 Terms
8 years he served! Why he wasn't impeached I have no idea???
He was allowed to Screw us Over Big Tim!
#2
I hope what we get out of the Election of President Obama Besides the Given,
a. Racism Stops on Both sides of the Track, I'm Sick of It!
b. People Start treating Each other with Respect!
Reality Check
I have a Black Friend who called me tonight to tell me something that he found funny,
Instead I found it offensive! I was so upset I just hung up on Him and took my phone off the Hook. So that told Me, What I hoped would come from Obama's Win is just going to go the opposite way now!
And this breaks My heart!
So I had a Dream, Then by a phone call I was woken up!!
Nov. 5 2008, Today, I met a cashier and a businessman whose stories I will most likely tell to my future kids one day. At 11:30 I boarded a public bus that I regularly take. I sat down in the back row by the window and picked up one of the many promotional newspapers scattered about on the blue plastic seats. All prominently displaying the victory of Barack Obama on their cover page. Two stops later a young man, cashier nametag still on, stepped onto the bus and proceeded to follow my steps from minutes earlier, by walking to the back row, sitting in the window seat to my right and picking up a paper.
He lifted the paper, placed it on his leg and looked in my direction, proclaiming, “Finally Man! Who thought this could come true an era ago? I wish my Grandparents could see this.” This man had voted for the first time in his life. Although he has been eligible for a while, he expressed that he never believed his vote would matter at all.
Excitement emanated from his eyes and his hope for America’s future shown from his smile. I agreed and we began to talk, while heavily reflecting Obama’s better understanding of the working class and Barack Obama’s ability to bring people together.
“I love this country. You can be whoever you want to be.” He stated.
In the front of the bus a brown haired man in a suit, sat down, and not even looking at us, raised his fist high and firm. I smiled and rose my own.
Still talking to my neighbor, the man in the suit walked down the isle and sat close.
The Cashier incorporated the man into the conversation and illustrated his experience at an Obama rally the night before.
Where he felt safe and didn’t feel the urge not to say hello or have a friendly talk with people he had never met. He seemed to try and grasp the meaning of this new feeling.
The man in the suit, possibly speaking in an Australian accent, jumbled for words in his attempt to convey the illumination that Obama has brought people with his “ Spiritual way of Politics.”
I did not hear all of the words that followed as the bus rattled, but his attempt brought him to tears of proud ness and joy for this country one day after this presidential election.
As the bus pulled into the station we pounded our fists together, much like the Obama-Michelle fist bump, and said goodbye. It was a goodbye, but not really. It felt like that this conversation would keep going with millions of other people. It was a goodbye that felt like everybody around me, I had known for years.
I am just a high school kid and I haven’t watched many a Presidential Race closely. I don’t know about everybody else, but I can’t remember this kind of result and feeling from an election. There is no doubt I will remember this race; This race where all the happiness, hope and emotions feel as if they are here to stay, This race where a young citizen never interested in politics gets out and votes, This race where one believes that his/her vote will finally count and go towards a candidate that for the first time represents his/her needs, This race that brings a man, who I would never thought to cry in a public place, to tears of happiness, This race that ultimately brings people together.
Maybe all this will fade, but maybe not. Just my thoughts.
Pianoman91
ekcny@yahoo.com
I too unclenched my fists last night and shed a few tears as I watched President Obama's speech. I can't remember the last time I felt as good getting out of bed as I did this morning. I hope the world is better for my four sons now. I'm tired of feeling angry all the time. This is our time. A friend of mine saw me taking the Obama bumper sticker off my truck this morning and asked why I was doing that. I said "What do you mean?' "Well, your guy won last night. Don't you want to rub it in?" I told him, "No, our guy won last night."
I'd still like to punch Tom Delay and Karl Rove in the face but hopefully that feeling will go away too.
What are you talking about with 1. The country did not rise up and kick anybody's ass out of the White House. He will have served as long as a president can serve, by the time he leaves. We need to prosecute him and punish him, because it is going to be sickening to see him through the years while he receives all the trimmings that go along with being a former president.
I loved that one of the first things he mentioned in his acceptance speech was that his girls will be getting the puppy he promised them. I think Malia and Sasha were really the ones behind this victory!!! Congratulations to the Obama family, you bring hope and inspiration to us all. I only wish his grandmother were here to see this historic event.
I once again have hope for this country. When George Bush was elected (appointed) in 2000, I felt like an outsider in my own country. I didn't think he was fit to be president of a fraternity, let alone the United States. He is of mediocre intelligence, a hypocritical religious extremist, an uneducated, uncurious, arrogant ass. When he was elected in 2004, I was very depressed. I didn't understand how that could happen and was afraid for our future as a country.
But now, I feel I belong again. I feel we all belong. It appears the US has come to its senses and finally sees the value in intelligence and decency and did not fall for the attempt to paint these qualities as elitism and socialism. I am once again proud to be an American.
joesnuffy, that's how i feel too. it was a long, long 8 years of the elmer gantry schtick.
I feel better about myself..I feel better about my people..I feel about my country..I feel better about the world in which I live in...
I feel that for far too long doubt, fear,and negativity had a firm grip on everyday life...and what this man did was show that good guys win..and that hope can overcome fear and doubt...I will no longer have an excuse for any of my shortcomings now or in the future, because I saw what my own eyes something that is deeper than just an election of a president..
I am 28 years old..and I just saw a world re-born..
HUMANITY is Beautiful
God Bless the World
President Obama is going ask us to do something.
I don't know what it's going to be. An America Peace Corp?
I don't know. Pres. Kennedy design the Peace Corp and
people lined up to join before it was even organized.
He's going to ask us to work.
And I'm ready.
He is going to ask us to do something! Pay more taxes!
I voted for Obama knowing this would probably not be a good day for my people. This is not a good day for Gays & Lesbians. This is not a day of progress for ALL of amerika. Where is the "change" if people vote for a black man for the first time, then continue to vote to take rights away from some of its citizens? What is sexy about the disenfranchisement of millions of human beings? Where is this supposed evidence of a desire for progressive politics?
Hang in there, utleftie. The last anti-gay marriage proposition in California, Prop. 22, passed in 2000 with a 61.4%-38.6% majority. Just eight short years later, the ratio is 52-48. That's HUGE. Give it about 2-4 years, write a "marriage equality" ballot proposition, and it'll probably pass.
Come to Cali and help out if you're so motivated!
As a Republican who voted for McCain - I think many of you pundits truly do not realize the key to this election - it was very very close - which tells us that America is a bit more complicated that what you generally are saying. Obama is to the Democrats as Reagan was to the Republicans - all Americans respect these two great men - why? Not so much based on their ideas but more on the greatness of the man. Obama is a great and decent man - he transcends politics. He will govern neither as a progressive democrat nor a conservative - but will do what he views is just the right thing to do. He abhors hatred and his brillance is that he can be part of any group, welcomed and accepted but at the same time not be of that group. I sense he has the potential to be one of the greatest - up there with Lincoln and FDR - a President where all Americans are welcomed to his house - where he will represent all Americans. He will come directly to the American people to share his thoughts and to explain why he will do something that will go against Pelosi or Reid. Just watch this great man for we are priviledged to witness his actions.
It was close? In your dreams.
No, no. It was close. The electoral college exaggerates. Just not as close as 2000, which is probably where we would have been if not for a timely financial crisis. It is a dream, however, to think everyone respects Mr. "Tear the solar panels off the White House" Reagan.
(1) Brown vs. Board of Education did what it was supposed to do: humanize our children; this victory is the result of school integration. Those who fought for it, knew its significance for making progress in this country.
(2) Finally, confederacy is defeated!
What troubles me most are the numbers of young people, many in my husband's large family, who still spout the foolish rhetoric of Rush Limbauch, O'Reilly , et al.
It doesn't help that these young people have been raised by parents who are racist and materialistic..
Maybe with time and life's experiences, their attitudes, expectations and outlooks will mature and change.
But I don't have a lot of hope that that will actually occur.
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