Obama and Me
Obama and me are not what you would call best friends, you understand. More acquaintances. We’ve known each other for quite a while. He’s let me into his life. In fact, he’s shared more with me than I’ve ever shared with him, but then I suppose that’s the nature of trust, isn’t it.
Of course, we’ve never met in person. We’ve never actually spoke, either. I’ve been to his ‘home’ state Illinois, but I don’t think he was in at the time. I’m not that interested in American politics, but am intrigued at the way Obama has used a new political machinery to connect online social networking to radical grassroots organising (click here for a reworked version of an article I first read at Sojourners a few months back. See here too.). ‘Obama and me’ is an affinity I can feel because of the way he has run his campaign, and it’s pretty genuine. There’s lots of (genuine) savvy and not (too much) spin. This man and his advisors have changed the shape of American politics. We need to sit up and take notice.
Whether he can afford to, or afford not to have Hillary as his vice-president will be a topic of endless speculation. How they negotiate any partnership will be crucial. With her husband as one of the worst presidents in recent American history, yet eager to assist the Oval Office as well, Obama will need to be careful if he doesn’t want the reality his rhetoric has been promoting to get lost under the machine that is The Clintons.
Despite the headaches that await, most of my American friends seem to agree – it’s a great and hopeful day.
But from way down here on the other side of the world, and in an election year, a few thoughts occur which are directly relevant.
1. Neo-liberalism with a caring and compassionate, perhaps even just, face is a difficult thing for many traditionally engaged activists to pin down and hold to accountability. To some degree, that’s a feeling some in the church and world have had these last 10 years under a Labour government. If Obama becomes president, I can’t help wonder if the USA is about to enter something which at the very least, has similarities. Given the state of the nation, the high level of inequality that needs addressing, and the foreign policy of the USA, however, it will probably take a few terms for this to show up, if it does.
2. If Obama became president, how would that change the world? It’s so easy to over-invest in politicians and let go of our own personal power for change. I found myself doing it far too often in the past. It simply lets us get on with our lives. But politicians hold power in trust, and are accountable to us and to God. We need to remind them of that. There’s no easy out. We can’t just leave them to get on with it and get on with our lives. With the future of the world increasingly likely to require more significant local organising and engagement, that’s perhaps something we need to take seriously. People like Obama hold our vision in trust. It’s easy for that trust to be betrayed when they become overwhelmed with the power of political office.
3. In an MMP system, it’s not about who you are, but who you can relate to. And that’s got a lot in common with what’s been happening in the USA, in a way. With Russell Norman now able to enter parliament before the election (Nandor Tanczos steps aside), and able to offer a fresh vision to the Greens, and with the Maori Party establishing a solid and important sector of the vote, the future of alliances may take on a very different and perhaps more influential shape in 2008. So may the political landscape of our country. So much depends on whether people really exercise their freedom to vote with their conscience, not out of fear and spin.
4. We don’t have an ‘Obama’ figure. Right now there is no one holding in trust a future looking, radical, exciting, progressive, political vision for this nation. That’s a sad indictment upon our political system and the people who inhabit it. They came with passion and vision and commitment. Somewhere, they lost it to the conservative tendencies of the political machinery (what they are told is ‘the reality of political life’). I’d encourage more politicians to be willing to step up and speak out, and take the risk of committing political suicide. There are too many of you taking your pay cheques and never being heard from, and too many who we never stop hearing from, but whom have nothing substantial to say.
People want inspiration, and they want depth. Most of all, they want someone who can hold their vision in trust. They want to be able to feel that they know the person or people, and those leaders need to make themselves vulnerable to us in a way we can trust (please, keep the spin out of it).
Right now, to my mind Hone Harawira seems one of the few voices who captures the imagination with honesty and integrity (and he’s on Bebo too). Your passion and honesty really excite and inspire me. But sometimes your rhetoric is just so big, I’m just not sure there’s room for the ‘me’ in “Hone and me”.
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