Analysis: expectations high for changed tone
By Peter Canellos, Boston Globe Washington Bureau Chief
CHICAGO — The people who crowded Grant Park last night, straining for a glimpse of President-elect Barack Obama, were aroused by a lot of passionate issues — war, jobs, race — and yet they insisted that no single goal, nothing that could be written out and measured, defined their expectations for the next administration.
‘‘It’s everything,’’ said a tearful Teri McClain of Seattle.
‘‘It’s having a president with a world view that most Americans can believe in,’’ declared Chris Godfrey of Des Moines, Iowa.
And yet Obama’s clear-cut victory, bolstered by strong majorities of his own party in both houses of Congress, can be read as a mandate for some very specific policy changes that could, by themselves, have momentous impact. Withdrawal from Iraq. Renewal of the six-decade quest for national health insurance. The launch of a major government-funded quest for renewable energy.
Beyond the policies, Obama’s election will stand forever amid the great milestones of America’s racial history, the end of a torturous progression from emancipation to the civil rights movement to the election of the first black president.
And yet the biggest change of all — the one that the hundreds of thousands of supporters who came to Grant Park are expecting — will be intangible: The change of tone in the country.
Any president’s greatest power — as chief executive, commander-in-chief, symbol of the nation — is in the tone he sets, a message that infects every corner of the federal government, penetrates American popular culture, and shapes international opinion of the United States and what it stands for.
And in this respect — as a shift in tone — Obama’s election is a watershed that could rank with the elections of Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan.
Every rise to the presidency is serendipitous. No one can assume that he or she has the credentials and therefore will get the job. Sometimes the serendipity seems merely lucky or accidental, but Obama’s election was a more premeditated meeting of man and moment.
It wouldn’t have been possible for Obama, a first-term senator with a slender legislative record, to secure the Democratic nomination this year or to seize the White House were it not for the man he will replace, George W. Bush.
In the months and years following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Bush invoked some of the most resonant words and images from American history to justify his policies. In his ‘‘axis of evil’’ speech that laid the groundwork for the Iraq war, Bush spoke of freedom as a value Americans must fight to protect by taking on ‘‘evil-doers’’ abroad. He also talked of exporting American good will and compassion, but framed the coming battle in militaristic terms.
‘‘We have known freedom’s price,’’ Bush declared in January 2002. ‘‘We have shown freedom’s power. And in this great conflict, we will see freedom’s victory.’’
Yet growing numbers of people came to see Bush’s policies as being at odds with American values. Where once Americans prided themselves on never starting wars, but rather accepting them if no other option were available, Bush seemed too eager to fight in Iraq.
Where Americans prided themselves on their defense of religious freedom, Bush seemed too willing to advertise his Christianity. Where Americans valued their civil liberties, Bush believed people would accept electronic surveillance as a means to root out terrorists. And where Americans prided themselves on their humanity, Bush seemed too willing to excuse alleged torture of prisoners in American custody.
All of the Democrats who lined up to run for president in 2008 were forceful in their denunciations of Bush’s policies. Yet only Obama seemed to answer Bush on his own terms, invoking freedom and history and destiny to oppose the very actions that Bush claimed were in defense of freedom.
In announcing his campaign on a frigid day in February 2007, Obama stood outside the old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois — Lincoln’s longtime home — and delivered a speech full of explicit and implicit references to the Great Emancipator.
Obama ended his speech by cribbing from Lincoln’s two greatest speeches, declaring that, ‘‘Starting today, let us finish the work that needs to be done, and usher in a new birth of freedom on this Earth.’’
The ‘‘birth of freedom’’ is from the Gettysburg Address, and ‘‘finish the work’’ is from Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, speeches that historians view alongside the Declaration of Independence as expressions of American ideals.
In his Second Inaugural, Lincoln portrayed African slavery as the country’s original sin. A political compromise had allowed people to remain enslaved in the new nation, even though many Founding Fathers believed it violated the principles of the Declaration of Independence. Extending freedom to black people, Lincoln believed, validated the core national principle that all men were created equal.
Under normal circumstances, Obama’s status as the mixed-race son of an African father and mother from Kansas would be a political disadvantage, because an unknown number of whites remained wary of electing a black president. But to an electorate bruised by Bush’s policies and eager for change, Obama’s election would carry great symbolic weight — validating Lincoln’s ideals — and offer a contrast to Bush’s vision of how to expand freedom.
Even those Americans who knew little about Lincoln’s speeches seemed to understand that Obama’s election would carry greater significance — and stand as a greater rebuke to Bush — than that of any other Democratic contender.
Obama cast himself as a candidate of destiny, and his unique background helped spark his breakthrough victory in the Iowa caucuses.
But while Democratic primary voters were placing great hope in Obama, inspired by their desire for the biggest possible contrast with Bush, the man himself remained something of an unknown. And many people feared that the reality of Obama might be less appealing than the promise of Obama. In fact, his actual proposals weren’t especially bold, and differed little from that of his main Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
Obama’s approach to politics was quite different from Clinton’s, however. His elevating rhetoric underscored his main objection to Clinton — that her strategic approach to framing issues was timid and conceded too many points to the Republicans. Her husband, Bill, had achieved success through ‘‘triangulation,’’ blunting Republican momentum by claiming some of their most popular issues for himself.
Obama’s complaint about ‘‘the smallness of our politics,’’ seemed aimed at Hillary Clinton, and he succeeded in convincing many voters that she and her husband were part of an old yin-and-yang dynamic in Washington that had to change.
Her Senate vote to authorize the Iraq war was offered as proof that she gave away too much to Bush; by contrast, Obama had delivered a prescient speech before the war warning of unforeseen consequences and disputing the necessity of Bush’s ‘‘pre-emptive’’ war.
That speech added considerable ballast to Obama’s campaign. He may not have built an extensive record, but he could point to one big instance, at least, when he showed the kind of moral courage he was promising to take to Washington.
Still, Clinton eventually found potency in her own political persona, as a fighter. Obama’s political strength was based on his life story — but therefore, in many voters’ eyes, unearned. Clinton, despite her advantage of having been the president’s wife, had picked up a lot of scars in the trenches.
Her feistiness, and willingness to roll up her sleeves, appealed to blue-collar voters, many of whom were resistant to Obama because of his ‘‘elite’’ sensibility.
But just when Clinton seemed to be taking command of the race, Obama was rescued by black voters, who turned out in record numbers in South Carolina to blunt Clinton’s momentum, and then, in the ‘‘Potomac Primary’’ of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C., to give him a lead in delegates that he would not relinquish.
In the general election, the Republican nominee, John McCain, tried some Clintonesque ‘‘triangulation’’ of his own, seeking to appropriate the ‘‘change’’ mantle from Obama.
McCain sought to redefine ‘‘change’’ in a way that flattered his own history — both of trying to change election laws to thwart special interests, and of bucking his own party when necessary. In McCain’s view, the people wanted a change from Bush, yes, but also from the ‘‘ways of Washington,’’ a formulation that conveniently included the Democratic-led Congress.
McCain had some success, but then both candidates confronted a national financial crisis. Sensing that the crisis only cast further disrepute on Bush and the Republicans, Obama concentrated on maintaining a measured presidential demeanor and offering a low-key defense of his policies.
His caution will no doubt lead many people to minimize the extent of his electoral mandate, suggesting that he offered himself mostly as an alternative to Republican incompetence.
But many groundbreaking presidents spent their general-election campaigns trying to defang critics rather than fire up supporters.
Roosevelt, who was correctly suspected of planning a major government expansion, spent much of his 1932 campaign stressing fiscal prudence. Reagan, who was correctly suspected of planning a defense build-up that would unsettle both allies and enemies, spent much of his 1980 campaign stressing his commitment to peace.
Obama’s desire to increase government’s role in health care, education, and energy is well known, and the expanded Democratic majorities in Congress will probably join him in creating the most activist government since the early 1970s.
His promise to use extensive diplomacy rather than ‘‘axis of evil’’-style threats — and to make the rebuilding of America’s image overseas a top priority — is similarly well known. And in this effort, his own best weapon will be himself.
Obama’s special destiny as a candidate of change may have been born as a political idea, to contrast with Clinton’s long experience in Washington. But over the past 21 months, it has become an expression of faith.
Among those who gathered early outside Grant Park were fans from around the world. They, like millions of Americans, were yearning for an American president who could inspire them again.
Obama will face difficult problems and, eventually, punishing political opposition. But in delivering on the central promise of his campaign — to change the tone in Washington, America, and across the world — he can succeed just by showing up.
Comment
Permalink
EmailThis blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
About Political Intelligence
News from the Washington Bureau
Beirut attack victims’ families face new hurdle
FHA runs low on cash, fueling bailout concerns
Powerful health care groups offer optimism on overhaul
Afghanistan wary of US plan to send more advisers
Earmarks’ cash flow lifts firms, lobbyists, lawmakers
Mass. keeps an eye on US bill’s funding ban
Survey raises new doubts on military’s ‘don’t ask’ policy
Lieberman’s threat of filibuster looms large
Health care headache for House Democrats
Health care opponents intensify late attack
INside Boston.com
- Party photos
Brandi Garnett, Tiffany Ortiz and Julie Landrum out on the town - The Ink Tank
Health care is among the topics of this week's editorial cartoons - A very pregnant Gisele
Supermodel and Tom Brady's wife is clearly expecting - Hey, Batman
Celebrities sound off about their favorite comics -
Plus...
- Home
- |
- Today's Globe
- |
- News
- |
- Business
- |
- Sports
- |
- Lifestyle
- |
- A&E
- |
- Things to Do
- |
- Travel
- |
- Cars
- |
- Jobs
- |
- Homes
- |
- Local Search
Oh my God I am so happy tonight. I will no longer have to worry about paying my mortgage. I won't have to worry about putting gas in my car. The messiah has arrived to take care of all of my needs.
The messiah will take all the money from all the big bad corporations and rich people and give it to me....yayyyyyyyyyyyyyy. I won't need to keep my job I will let the chosen one and his government take care of me. I am so happy.
Did you see Jesse Jackson crying ?? It was so touching...he is such a great man. Along with other great men like Bill Ayers, Louis Farrakahn and Reverend Wright. I am so proud of the messiah and all his wonderful friends.
I am a brainwashed moron and I approved this message.
I am so happy to have a President whom I can be proud of.
I am truly grateful that we've elected a leader that inspires - not only those within this country, but those beyond its borders as well. I am proud to be an American.
All things were possible yesterday, but no longer tomorrow. The end has come.
With the election of Obama America moves from the edge of the toilet to deep in the bowl, awaiting, Pelosi and Reid to flush.
With this tragic outcome all our freedoms will be under attack.
Freedom of speech will be attacked by law and regulations with Orwellian Newspeak titles like the Fairness Doctrine. Making people feel bad will be punishable by federal anti-hate speech laws.
The right to bear arms will be diminished to the point of worthlessness.
And most important the right and ability to manage and use your own resources as you see fit will come to and as capitalist America comes to an end.
Rejoice Comrade because 2 decades after the end of the cold war the communists have finally won.
There is little chance of recovery. With his ownership of the MSM, and when he signs card check into law, legalizing Unions being able to intimidate people into joining and forcible collection of dues to further finance Obama and his cronies there is little chance that opposition will be allowed to exist. Dictatorship has arrived in America and its name is Obama.
America's enemies will parade and dance in the streets in celebration.
If you really wanted to live in a European styled country you should have moved to Europe and left us Americans alone.
We will fight back. We have no choice, unlike you socialists we Americans have no where to retreat to. We are going to hold Obama to the same standards that you held Bush. If the sun is in my eyes tomorrow it will be Obama's fault, for does he not cause the sun to rise?
This is the happiest moment of my 65 years of political life in this country. Obama's speech tonight was by far the greatest I ever heard from a victorious presidential candidate. He's run the best campaign in our history. And he seems to be the smartest, most decent, most competent person to be elected president in my lifetime. It's the perfect antithesis to the disastrous Bush II years. Thank God that enough white Americans had the decency of Iowa, rather than the hateful prejudices of the Archie Bunkers who've decided our presidential races for forty years. I'm so happy for black people, who can finally realize that most white Americans accept them as brothers and sisters and fellow citizens, and truly wish them well. Obama's message of national unity is what won this election for him. It's what a large majority of Americans have been longing for for years. Let's move forward together under Obama.
Don't forget, he had virtually the entire media establishment backing and covering his back, without them, no Presidency.
Congratulations to all the Obama supporters. People say that you get the government you deserve, and so you will. The rest of us are a bit nervous that we're also going to be stuck with the government that you deserve. We hope we're wrong, and that we get better than that!
The change we are going to get will have little resemblance to the change that is anticipated or to the change that was promised. The time for style has ended the time for substance has begun. I for one am glad a Democratic Congress with a Democratic Senate led by a Democratic President cheered on by an adoring media will have complete and total charge of the country’s affairs. The only constraint is the tattered economy that denies them the assets needed to implement many of their ideas, unless they drastically cut defense or punish people by raising taxes. Now it is the Democrats turn to lead and I truly hope they put the country first and lead with values and courage we all can admire. I really doubt that will happen as every interest group has their hand out wanting their agenda fulfilled.
Now that the media has packaged up and sold us this Messiah...
Let the miracles begin!
An anti-Christian pundit said that perhaps McCain sensed that African American pride was at stake in this election. There is no question that it was. But is that why we elect a president – to sate the pride of special groups? What happened yesterday? The truth is Americans cast aside heroism for garbage. The day after the man said with complete seriousness that his plan would send the price of electricity to the stratosphere he was elected president. Today millions of Americans are deeply saddened, but worse, they are ashamed.
This was no average election. In Africa and South America the people faithfully chose corrupt and incompetent leadership. Yesterday the descendents of Africans and immigrants from South America helped choose an American president and will hereafter permanently help choose the American president. Like in California and Massachusetts and other states where Democrats rule, they will, with the help of Barack Obama, move quickly to effect permanent Democrat national rule. One party rule has arrived. Open borders will be for openers. Two days ago Chuck Schumer was asked if the Fairness Doctrine should be made law and conservative talk radio be government controlled. His answer was, yes, all pornography should be taken off the airways.
What would James Madison think of Chuck Schumer’s reasoning? Would Madison be in fear for the health of America at this point? Yes he would.
RR
A very acute article, I think you've hit the nail on the head. Basically, and this is an international thing, people want change from the frustrating sterility of power struggles, hate, prejudices (and I'm not tlaking about racist ideas only, but of creed, sexual status, religion et al) misrepresentation, horrible poverty, greed etc. No Mr. Obama is not a messiah, as maybe some believe him to be, nor is he the antichrist, as some seem to believe him to be. However he is a symbol, the symbol that each person throughout the world has been looking for, now with renewed hope, wanting to believe will renew the great American image. Not since John Kennedy has there been such a wave of morale and moral uplifting. As an American living overseas, it makes me proud, once again to say, yes, I'm an American. But oh what a terrible burden for anyone to pull.
Well Brainwashed, you've been had by your right wing leaders, it may help you to read a few newspapers and come to your own thoughts if you regret being brainwashed. Even J.S.McClain said Obama is a fine decent man! Who are you to argue? Give the man a chance, GWB has screwed over the country for 8 yrs, give Obama a couple years before you continue attacking him.
Now I expect Obama to lower expectations between now and January after you fools elected him. He is like the Wizard of Oz . Now its time for Dorothy to open the curtain and expose him as a fraud. I am sure Mass voters will keep sending Barney ( Nothing is wrong with Fanny Mae) Frank back to Washington too.
To call this a historic moment would be redundant, considering how often this has been said before. Instead, as a European worker I would like to congratulate my fellow workers in the US to their choice. I sincerely hope for you that Pres. Obama will improve your lives and give you the opportunities you deserve and have been denied for so long. Affordable health care, a fair tax system that rewards work, not wealth, to mention a few. I also sincerely hope that the barriers that have long kept minorities like the African American community at bay will be torn down. To make the US a symbol for progress and humanity again.
I am gonna shut down my business and get my free stuff. I am done working while lazy folks sit back and now are really gonna collect a check for doing nothing. Where do I get in line now to get mine? You folks wanted a socialist country - now you are gonna get one. The U.S.S.A has arrived.
What a relief! Stayed up all night celebrating. Why? I can sleep all day, because I don't have to work anymore. No one does!
I hope the Republican party finally figures out that the religious right, gun worshiping militant rednecks and the greedy, neo-liberal capitalists are the radical fringe and among the lowest common denominator of America. Barack on!!!!
I'm so excited! Finally - we have a president that opposes medical care for newborns. In his "landmark" speech on race, he asked us to move beyond racial politics while he defended Wright and called his grandmother a racist. We'll raise taxes, abandon free trade, and throw away a secret ballot in union elections. Finally! Change we can believe in!
The really big, unspoken problem here is that the economic policies espoused by Obama always reduce overall prosperity, and all in the name of "fairness". Of course, fairness can be achieved if everyone (except the elite, of course) are equally poor, and you only have to go 90 miles off the coast of Florida to see how that works. It's like that Who song, "tax the rich to feed the poor, turn around, we're rich no more". Even with the Democrats in control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency, they will continue to blame George Bush for the results of their failed policies for years to come. So, we will see for how long America accepts that excuse.
Proud of WHAT??? Inspiration of WHAT??
Well done! You may think you know but you can scarcely imagine how many new friends America has won with this election and how many old ones it is winning back. Now what? There are huge expectations everywhere. Many of them are and must be internal to the US. But the world has expectations too. For me, in London, the key thing is that President-elect Obama focuses on regaining international legitimacy sacrificed by the Bush administration. I have put some thoughts on this on www.state-of-the-world.com; please have a look - comments welcome!
Why President-Elect Obama scares me:
It is simple. I live in a pragmatic world that is exempt from abstract platitudes aimed at tickling the ears of the naive public. Today, I will finish the process of identifying those employees that I must fire because I can no longer afford them and the impending tax burden. It is simple arithmetic.
For the first time in my adult life, I am ashamed to be an American.
What a joke. Change? From a career politician who as a senator has helped run up the largest federal deficit in history. Now, with the 750B bailout tacked on over 10 TRILLION. Not likely. If the best thing the voters in this country could come up with were Obama and McCain, two established career political hacks who are as Washington insider as it gets then they deserve the stratospheric gas prices, floundering economy and back breaking deficits that they will soon have. You ain't seen nothing yet on any of these fronts. In two years Obama's popularity will be right down there with Bush's today. Can anybody say "Carter administration"? I hate to break it to Obama supporters but Bush has been a lame duck for two years ever since Democrats took control of Congress. Yes, that's right, Obama's party has controlled congress for the past two years. Have you been happy with the direction and condition of the country in those two years? I hope so because you just voted for four more years of the same. And you expect change? Yet more proof that foolishness springs eternal.
I get a tingle up my leg just reading this love poem to Obama. The media drivel continues. "Obama’s election is a watershed that could rank with the elections of Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan." And monkeys could fly.
"We may not get there in one year or even one term" Obama said in his acceptance speech;besides the fact that he did not define "there", if in four years we won't get..."there" expect more of the blame to be on..".Bush/Cheney policies of the..past." Th trick worked beautifully in 2008, but in 2012 all these wonderful speeches have to match a proven record (that now does not exist) and only then American people will see if he can walk the walk.
"first black president".
He won and we can stop calling him black now.
His mother was white. Doesn't she matter?
Obama is an Afro-American and not black!
Mike
We will do our best to help all of you poor, embittered purveyors of hopelessness, bigotry and short-sighted self-interest... we'll try to help turn your bitterness into joy... but you're going to have to at least try to do something besides sit there and whine.
We will give you your time to mourn what you now perceive to be a loss... give you time to lick your wounds and regain enough composure to see that what took place in this election actually belongs in the "W" column.
There was a call last night to serve the monumental effort... to assist the requisite change. Many signed up immediately, but everyone is needed. So please try to take off your sack-clothes and ashes and comprehend the opportunity that we have here, before you determine yourselves to remain as motionless, dead-weight that those with new hope will have to carry.
Listen to some of you. You sound like Chicken Little. George Bush ran the country and the republican party into the ground. I actually voted for McCain (not a big fan of Palin though, to put it mildly) but I must say I'm ashamed of some of my own party's response to this. Our party is the party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower and Reagan. But the party got hijinxed by the Christian right and divisive crooks like Karl Rove and Dick Cheney. The Conservative movement started with some very smart, well read people and now I feel like an alien in my own party which panders to "joe six pack." McCain is a great man, but he lost. That's politics. I voted for him in the 2000 primaries-- where were all of you then?
You want to hide in a cave, go ahead. I'm a Republican, but an American first. Watch what you say about Barack Obama-- show even a little respect and snap out of it. The real traitor to our party is George Bush, who sold out core Republican values to benefit the few. COUNTRY FIRST people, party second. This is still a great country and you're knocking it an awful lot.
Republicans (McCain)+ Democrats(Obamma) = You working at a minimum 4 months a year JUST to pay taxes to achieve the impressive goal of a 9.3 Trillion (over 10 Trillion after the bailout boondoggle is factored in) national deficit. Wow there's something to get exited about. Change? Sure change from a spend and tax and attack the 1st and 4th amendment plan to a tax and spend and attack the 2nd, 5th and 10th amendment plan, that's about it. Hurray. If you were excited about voting for McCain or Obamma YOU are the problem with America.
PS To all you populists who think Obamma is for the middle class maybe you missed it but Obamma voted to give 750 BILLION to a bunch of greedy bankers who made risky loans to a bunch of deadbeats who don't pay their bills. It's YOUR money, or it was anyway.