The Obama Effect

As the election draws imminently near and the national polls see-saw once again back towards John McCain, it is worth taking a moment to reflect back on the course of the last cycle of Presidential campaigning, and consider what it says about the American state of mind today. In particular, the meteoric rise of Barack Obama from a junior Senator from Illinois to becoming the favorite for the highest office in the United States is enough to give even a casual observer a moment of pause. True, Americans delight in the political underdog, routinely rooting for appealing candidates with seemingly no chance (just think of Jesse Ventura or Ross Perot), but the trajectory of Obama's political career is nothing short of breathtaking. His candidacy, I think, reveals more about the undertone of the contemporary American zeitgeist than it does about the major political issues which define the 08' election, including the war in Iraq, health care, and taxes.

Four years ago, Americans voted overwhelmingly to reelect President George W. Bush. With security fears since 9/11 still running high and two wars across the world, John Kerry had little hope at unseating the incumbent; President Bush, with the aid of Karl Rove, ran the table of American political discourse. Indeed, they had invented the new American vocabulary - the war on terror, Axis of Evil, coalition of the willing - and Kerry's attempt to battle Republicans using the language that they had introduced, effectively ended the election before it started.

Four years later much has changed. The two wars have grown exceedingly unpopular, saber rattling appears to be getting the U.S. nowhere with Iran and North Korea, and the aggressive, unilateral foreign policy approach doesn't seem to be helping our growing trade deficit with India and China or our massive dependence on Saudi Arabia's oil.

And yet the Democrats initially offered little in the way of alternative leadership. Nancy Pelosi's assumption of House leadership in 2006 quickly descended into acrimonious political deadlock and a dearth of fresh ideas from prominent Democratic Senate leaders provided no new framework for a way to deal with a rising deficit, a slipping economy, and two unending wars. President Bush's failure to pass his major bipartisan revision of the nation's immigration laws proved not only the impotence of the White House, but of the Congressional leadership as well. The crowded field of Democratic contenders for Presidency, therefore, was largely uninspiring. From Senator John Edward's tired repetition of failed 2004 rhetoric to Senator Joe Biden's verbosity on why he's always been right, the Democratic field offered nothing new. Even Senator Clinton's campaign focused largely on opposing Bush's policies - War in Iraq, No Child Left Behind, global warming - rather than offering any new framework of her own.

And then there was Barack Obama. It is accepted as political dogma that Americans prefer the "happy warrior" politician in the mold of Harry Truman, rather than the angry, ranting rhetoric of a William Jennings Bryan or a Richard Nixon. Obama's breakout speech at the Democratic Convention in 2004 and his later, stirring speech after his surprise loss in the New Hampshire primary, demonstrated his relish for the political arena, his excitement for battling his opposition and ratcheting up the energy of his crowds. Rather than the cheesy Edwards or the pained Clinton, Obama seems to enjoy himself most when communicating his opposition.

Yet more important than Obama's personal appeal is the new dialogue that he brings to the political arena. When Obama detractors cite his heavy reliance on abstract or fluffy notions of hope and change as evidence of his phoniness, they underestimate his contribution to the political discourse. For 8 years Republicans dominated the airwaves and print media with fearful talk of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, painting all opposition as weak on defense or un-American. From a position of semiotics, then, Obama sidestepped the trap which Kerry fell into, avoiding the usage of Republican-wrought language and instead creating a vocabulary of his own. Tapping latent frustration with Bush's moralistic and binary view of all political issues - from foreign policy to domestic affairs - Obama channeled it into a new political framework and a new political discussion. It is notable that John McCain has attempted - with much success - to co-opt the new political language of change as his own by focusing on his "maverick" tendencies. If leadership is sometimes inspiring new thought and motivating those being led towards fresh action, then Obama's candidacy is nothing short of revolutionary leadership.

It is no surprise, therefore, that Europeans - indeed, nations around the world - are excited about an Obama presidency. For nearly a decade Europeans and Americans have been talking past each other. President Bush talked in terms of bilateralism, hard power, democratic ideology, and an us-against-them construction of the world, while Europeans think in terms of multilateralism, soft power, and multicultural acceptance, not to mention complexity and nuance in foreign affairs. Obama's new political language has effectively decimated the old construct and, if elected, will open the door to renewed transatlantic relationships, a source of excitement to nations and people around the world, not to mention to those at home.

If President John F. Kennedy was the first modern president - the first to be born in the 20th century - than Obama is nothing short of the first Postmodern president. His biographical composite denies easy categorization - Africa, Kansas, Hawaii; he's a child of the world. As a son to a black father and a white mother, even his racial identity prevents him from being classified amongst the entrenched fragments of American politics. He rises above the muck of classic 20th century politics, notably sidestepping the race questions which bogged down Jesse Jackson's candidacy in the 80's.

A new candidate with a new language for a rapidly changing world. It is no wonder that students reacted so energetically and immediately to Obama's candidacy. Having been born long after the gender, race, and sexual revolutions of the 1960's, today's college students often don't understand the political hang-ups of black versus white, woman versus man, gay versus straight. Obama's ability to rise above the fractured fray and ignore traditional political definitions speaks directly to the young adult raised in an increasingly globalized, multicultural milieu.

As of this writing, the boon to Obama's campaign that resulted from the economic meltdown seems to be ebbing, and the political winds seem to be blowing back towards McCain's favor. Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia, once safely in Obama's column, have begun to shift back towards the red. Yet if he can stave off the tide for just one more day, President Obama will be able to solidify cultural changes he has already set in motion, for the betterment of the American nation and its people.