Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Reflecting after yesterday's inauguration

For many of us, yesterday's events are the culmination of two years of working at the grassroots level to get Barack Obama elected starting back before he officially entered the race in Feb. 2007.

The initial announcement was made via a simple video message uploaded to a sparse campaign website. Many supporters who had worked on the draft Obama effort wondered how a presidential level candidate could start off with such a simple web presence.

Of course, eventually Obama rolled out a web machine that would propel him far ahead of the competition in online prowess. The former Illinois senator came to depend on his online support to offset the establishment backing of chief primary opponent Hillary Clinton.

I can clearly remember how many people I know, who really wanted to see change, would say that America was still not ready to elect an African American into the White House. A few acquaintances, very thoughtful and informed in these matters, thought the country was still decades, or 50 years or more from reaching that point.

However, many of my generation, and I'm about a year and a half older than Barack, who tinker in politics were aware of changes that have occurred in the mentality of many Americans, especially younger ones. Obama himself seems to have been well aware of these changes himself.

These changes have been going on for a long time, but most politicians rarely bother to target young people as part of the main thrust of their campaign. Every candidate has some youth outreach, but this is usually merely an aside to the primary focus of reaching likely voters, who tend to be older.

Obama though realized that he had to concentrate on younger and more progressive voters. And he knew that the internet was a great place to find such voters. The internet is an integrated area much like Obama's original home state of Hawai'i, or like the armed forces. Integrated environments breed familiarity and reduce "otherness."

His own upbringing and his techical savvy made him aware of these opportunites to change the electoral map.

Now it wasn't an easy road. During the summer of 2007, for example, Obama plummeted in the polls against Clinton, with the latter beginning to look like the "inevitable" candidate. The primary battle, in particular, was long and rigorous. The plan though eventually brought victory.

Now, with Obama taking the reins as the 44th president, expectations and the stakes are high. He may have a tough time coming through with some of his promises in the current environment. Some have wondered whether some of his cabinet picks will work energetically enough to push through his agenda, when they have expressed differing views in the past.

What most of us who have been around from the start have learned, however, is that Obama cannot not do this all by himself. Change comes from the people. Obama, at best, can act as an instrument of the people. As Obama said himself, we are the change that we seek.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This man is a fraud. As his student, I have personally known him to be ashamed of his Muslim ancestry. He is weak and ruled by his manly wife. I am ashamed to think that I was ever in his class. He despises Muslims maily because his Muslim father dumped his Christian mother, and as he has seen the opulent lifestyle of Muslims growing up in Indonesia, he is bitter that his own life was so fragmented and grasping. In Pakistan too he has seen how the the rich Pakistanis live, and has been severely jealous as to why he was denied that luxury. Hence you see his wife epousing fashion and his $9 million extravagance for a week's Hawaii vacation, on American taxpayer money. His agenda is that of is wife - black America. His wife is a very bitter and vengeful woman. Who wouldn't be, growing up in South Side of Chicago, which is same as Harlem of NY? His wife and her family have never seen a penny of luxury. They - Michelle, Craig and Barack - got where they were because of affirmative action, and Obama knows this very well. You have not seen their origins. Go to Hyde Park in Chicago and see, you will know a ghetto when you see one. Chicago is a hotbed of criminals-turned-politicians, and for a black man to get anywhere in that climate he needs to have had a lot of black power - and petty money-grubbing rich white power - behind him, which means shaking hands with all kinds of crooks. Plus, he has too many favors to return to the people who handed him the presidency. Those people have heavily vested interests. I am afraid to think of how Obama - Mr AND Mrs, and Mrs' entire afro family - are going to bring this great nation down in the gutter with them. No one can rise so fast without a personal agenda - and a powerful sugar daddy hellbent on his/her own agenda. Politics means plenty of compromises. Obama has sold his soul. Just you wait and watch.

MacD said...

What exactly ARE the WH "staff" positions that were sworn in today by Biden? What are the job descriptions? How did those folks get those jobs? Was it an open application process or are they all campaign insiders now being rewarded with top jobs?

FASHION REALIZATION said...

Paul~
Well said!
I agree that, as Mahatma Gandhi said: “You must be the change you want to see in the world”.
We ARE The Change, so let’s get to it!

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