Why I am for Obama

 

Obama is not a member of the Establishment. Although he is a Harvard-trained attorney, and a US Senator, he is not White, has not been in politics for decades,  has not had a career in business or industry, nor was he born into wealth. Obama is not a member of what C. Wright Mills called “The Power Elite” of political, economic, and military leaders that comprise the Establishment. Members of the Establishment are a privileged few, who understand Americans’ daily lives only theoretically. They fail to understand the stresses, obstacles, and problems, that average Americans encounter daily. Isolated in their plush offices and private jets, they perceive the American populace as merely an entity to be manipulated. The Establishment seeks to prevent class consciousness, but to maintain false consciousness. The goal of the national political class is to retain power, and the goal of the multinational corporate class is to obtain profits. The Establishment are antithetical to Barack Obama because he is not one of them, as John McCain, George W. Bush, and even as Al Gore and Hillary Clinton, are.

 

Obama has been personally affected by America’s flaws, but has nevertheless triumphed. Obama knows that the United States is not perfect, in a way that only a Black American can know. Unlike others in the political class, Obama doesn’t just subscribe to the dismissive, sentimental view that “America isn’t perfect, but it’s still the last best hope of earth.” The United States has serious, fundamental problems. The infrastructure is crumbling, the concentration of wealth is growing, and our foreign policy is improvised, as examples. In that Obama was raised by a single mother, abandoned by his father, was economically deprived, and also is Black, he was structurally denied access to the means to success in American society. And yet, he succeeded. But Obama knows that he didn’t succeed because it was inevitable that he would. He knows that education, perseverance, and intelligence were responsible for his achievements – not the privileges of his birth, skin color, or name. Obama has insights, borne from his experiences, about modern American life, shared by few others in national office.

 

Obama has not been involved in politics long enough to be corrupted. People in power tend to want to stay in power, and history demonstrates that they will do most anything to remain in power. Obama has held the esteemed office of Senator for only a few years. Ambition, and opportunity, have driven him to seek the presidency. But, his desire to remain senator hasn’t driven him into the arms of lobbyists or other Washington, DC powerbrokers. Despite being brought up politically in the notorious Chicago machine, Obama has no skeletons in his closet. The Tony Rezko issue is unimportant. Obama has not had vacations paid for by lobbyists, he has not had his ethics questioned, he has not been suspected of anything illegal, nor has he engaged in any unseemly, but legal, quid pro quos. There are few national politicians that can say the same.

 

Obama is bold, and he exhibited that most spectacularly by not only challenging, but by beating, Hillary Clinton to the Democratic nomination. The United States needs a president who will not blindly adhere to conventional wisdom. Prior to Obama’s ascendency, such conventional wisdom was that Clinton was unbeatable. That’s why she ran an incumbency campaign, a campaign of inevitability. Obama surely understood that, even if Clinton didn’t exist, his attempt to be nominated would be wrought with challenges: He is young, relatively inexperienced, Black, and not well known nationally. But, he realized that he had some strong supporters, he trusted his ability to run well, picked a good team, and he went forward. And by employing a smart strategy and excellent organizing, he overcame all obstacles. He could have looked at the odds and averred. Instead, he looked at them, looked at himself, but moved on, and won.

 

Obama is a self-made man. He does not owe his success to his family’s wealth, to his name, to his background, or to luck. He is successful because he worked for it. John McCain was the son and grandson of admirals. The resources McCain needed to prosper and to attain success were available to him on the day he was born. No, McCain did not choose a path without challenges and hardships. But, he had his choice of paths to take. Obama knows what it is like to have to build a career, to create opportunities, to force advancement through determination, skill, and through force of will.

 

Obama is smart. His educational accomplishments, use of language, and, of course, that he is at the threshold of becoming president of the  United States at age 47, all reveal Obama’s high intelligence. Obama’s deft campaigning during the primary, his understanding of how people perceive him, and his selection of sharp campaign aides, also testify to his intellect. The president should be the smartest person in the room. If the president is Obama, then that will be so.  

 

John McCain is running a negative, infantile, trivial campaign. Rather than accenting McCain’s positive traits, his campaign is emphasizing Obama’s supposedly negative ones. Unlike most members of either major party, McCain has indeed demonstrated a capacity for independent thought and action, for which he deserves credit. But, it ultimately seems that McCain would simply like to be president, because it would be a great way to close his career. Obama, conversely, seems that he wants to be president so that he can accomplish an ambitious and positive agenda.

 

McCain’s economic plan proposes tax breaks for oil companies, of which Exxon just reported nearly a $12 billion profit in the last quarter. Obama wants to give every American at least a $500 check, from the vaults of the bloated oil companies. McCain wants to retain the Bush tax cuts, which primarily benefitted the wealthiest Americans – and which McCain voted against. Obama believes that the rich should pay more, but that middle-income Americans should pay less. McCain is apparently unwilling to match wits with the foolish and hypocritical Venezuelan president Chavez, or the egomaniacal Iranian president Ahmadinejad. Obama doesn’t appear to be afraid of engaging either of them.

 

John McCain will support and defend the status quo. As president, he will be reactive, not proactive. He will enjoy the office, propose a few superficial changes (which will never be enacted), then play golf. McCain has adopted the mantra of “reform” only because the American people had indicated that they want “change.” Even knowing that, McCain only supports reform rather than change. Obama, however, is very likely to strongly pursue fundamental changes: National health care, a multilateral foreign policy, and a greater commitment to economic equality. Since Obama is not a member of the Establishment, he is less likely to try to preserve the environment in which they alone can prosper.  

 

The course of Obama’s life demonstrates that he is not easily cowed, that he accepts challenges and overcomes them, that he understands the weaknesses and strengths of the United States, and that he is willing to try to lead 300 million people in a direction that they have not gone before. He is not of the Establishment, does not have a vested interest in the status quo, and owes his success to no one but himself, to his skill and judgment. That is what Americans deserve in a president. That is why I am for Obama.