Today week we should know who the next President of the US will be. If the polls are correct the race will be won by Barack Obama. This would be an extraordinary achievement not only for the Illinois Senator and the Democratic Party but it could be the beginning of a new dawn for the progressive and liberal left the world over. The new dawn will not come along because America elects its first ever black President but the real change of seismic proportions will be triggered by the movement behind Obama and the way the campaign was run.
Apart from a possible fear inducing event or a Bradley effect, which I would dismiss as irrelevant this time around since both candidates will lose and gain votes because of race, it is almost certain that Obama will win the elections and possibly win enough seats in the senate and congress that will mark a cultural shift towards the left, unseen since the New Deal days. This is the more astonishing considering that only three years ago the GOP was convinced it was riding an insurmountable wave after achieving what seemed an eternal majority. Three years on and it seems that wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economic crisis and George W. Bush’s doctrine have given the Democrats an improbable chance to build a strong and lasting majority which could shape American and global politics for many long years.
Obama will not change the world as many might think as he nevertheless represents the same old Washington establishment and shares the same Republican imperialist ideas regarding Israel, Cuba and gun-ownership not to mention his close ties with Wall Street. Yet given the Democrats obtain a filibuster proof majority it will be much easier for Obama to introduce tax, energy and health-care reforms and rebuild America’s shattered reputation. Yet high expectations might prove to be Obama’s Achilles heal.
As Obama himself admits in his stunning rhetoric, this campaign has not been about him but it has been about the people. Before becoming a US Senator, Barack Obama was a community organiser in the streets of Chicago and it seems that this has heavily influenced his candidacy and his campaign. The Obama campaign has gone to places where no Democrat campaign has ever been, opened offices in traditionally conservative and hostile areas, involved thousands of disenfranchised or usually uninterested people, mobilised young and not so young people in unprecedented manner, collected incredulous amounts of money and spent it wisely.
The Obama campaign has demonstrated that the way forward for the left is strong grassroots participation in policy making and in campaigning, solid community based organization, involvement and mobilisation of disenfranchised and inactive minorities and segments of society, understanding and embracing different values(including God, Guns and Gays obsessed conservatives in southern states) and a charismatic leader capable of mobilising people, reaching out to people who are different, putting hope over fear and convincing people that a common dream is well within reach.
I am not sure Obama’s victory will be so comfortable, maybe it’s because I am superstitious or maybe it’s just because I will never bet against the Republicans playing dirty and I am also wary of the Democrats’ ability to stand firmly and fight back with conviction, although in all honesty during this long long campaign I have lost faith in such stereotypes and it really does seem that things are already changing.
