What I admire about Barack Obama, he's really a conservative in disguise.
This post may seem out of place for a self described conservative, but the point being made is not that I agree with his political point of view, but to admire what he's about to do to the North American political landscape over the next few months. I also want to premise the following on the basis that this is not an endorsement of him, or any other US presidential candidate for either party.But I digress.
What I've witnessed so far in the US campaign is that Obama has been making an effort to reach out to the disenfranchised, the folks that have walked away from politics, or never got involved, because they felt it wasn't important to them. The perception I believe wasn't so much that it wasn't for them, as much as politics was being done for someone else. The feeling that the process has become more about electing the leader rather than the majority deciding what the laws of the country where suppose to be. Furthermore that the process of electing the leader has been co-opted by monied interests and well connected interest groups. Joe and Jane Sixpack and their children approaching voting age just didn't feel that their input meant much more to the political operatives than the means by which their particular meal ticket got a hold of the levers of power. Swiftboat veterans, code pink, Moveon.org, NAACP, organized labour, have become less about the people they pledged to defend and are now an operative of one or the other political parties. The media is not much better. They pick their side and rather than remain unbiased, report selectively or not at all on the leader. And when they have nothing to report politically, they revert to the latest celebrity meltdown.
So whats this got to do with Obama?
Its this.
He doesn't have to win.
Thats right, if he doesn't win the primary, he comes out a winner.
Now the why.
Its his platform. His platform hasn't changed since he started, and its an outreach to everybody that they have an obligation to get engaged in the process, and not let themselves be talked down to or told their vote just doesn't matter. Thats a message that by-passes partisan interests. Thats a message that makes folks realize they have a part to play and they best go do it. Its a message that the pollsters, the interest groups, monied interests, and the political operatives looking for their next meal ticket fear most. They know that when the majority stay away from the voting booth, or disengage from the process, it reduces the number of votes needed to get elected. It allows a politican to be swayed by the interest groups, it allows politics to be coopted by the extremism in society, and it allows the few elites to have a greater say than the majority. And thats the anti-thesis to a democratic system.
There is some who will say that its better that people don't vote if they are not informed. I would agree, and this is another reason why I admire what Obama is doing. He's getting the people to not just get involved, but get informed as well. He realizes that some may choose a different path and take their support elsewhere, but he knows that the more folks that get involved means one more voter the interest groups, the lobbyists, and the extremists can't ignore. And the thing about that those groups fear is that they know because they can only appeal to a narrow point of view, is that as more and more people become involved the differing points of view also become greater. The result is that politicians are forced to accomodate a more diverse voter base, the outcome of which is that politicians stop worrying about accomodating the interest groups, and the lobbyists, and start creating laws that satisfy the demands of the voters.
But it won't matter if he wins or loses the race, why? Because like any groundswell of support, this one has gained momentum, and the people that have come out to hear him speak are becoming motivated, and his crowds are getting bigger. The media cannot ignore him and the bloggers will keep them honest. Best of all, you can't hate the man, so that means the political operatives attack him at their own peril. And should he lose those voters will make a point of taking their vote and their pov somewhere that until now has been coopted by one group or another, and will wrest control back to the mainstream.
See he's not running a political campaign, he's campaigning for an ideal.
Thats the kind of thing that makes the operatives and elitists very, very nervous because they got where they are by not having any.
Regardless of whether you like his politics, or even if you cannot abide liberalism, you should at least respect and admire what he can accomplish through inspiration by getting more people to get involved.
Labels: principles and idealism
posted by gimbol @ 1:11 PM
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