The Audacity of Hope

I received interesting feedback from Obama supporters following my endorsement of Barack Obama last week. Olumide Ekisola, a partner at AE & E Legal resisted the temptation to taunt me for my previous backing of Senator Hillary Clinton. He wrote, “I must commend your candour at realising that Barack Obama is the man of the moment as regard the election in the US. I read your earlier article in which you endorsed Hillary Clinton and I was actually waiting for the opportunity of sending a mail to you to “jeer” as soon as Barack was sworn in as President but you apparently have “seen the light”…I was carried away and persuaded by his “audacity of hope” and belief that where other known civil right activists have failed he will squeeze out victory from the hard terraces of all disadvantages stacked against him. I just decided to acknowledge your endorsement (as if I am qualified) on Obama’s behalf and to let you know that just as I would have jeered I am also willing to praise. On that note, I must commend you on your write ups and opinions on all issues treated by you. Please keep it up and be rest assured that a whole lot of us Nigerians learn one or two things from the efforts of people like you.”

One Loomnie posted a comment on my blog. He said, “…you wrote that the Republicans think (thought) that Mr Obama would be an easier opponent for them. That was the first time I would hear of that argument and it is kinda surprising that they would think so, to say the least. You wrote above that the Republicans have spent many years investigating Ms Clinton's past but I think that is not quite correct. For one, she has had quite a murkier past than Barack Obama, a past that was still yet unexplored during the primaries, and that would have been dragged to the public if she had won the primaries. Think, for instance, about what would happen if there were a closer scrutiny of what happened during the time Mr Clinton was having the Lewinsky affair. I, on the other hand, think that Obama offers a stronger opposition precisely because there is about nothing to uncover in his past, and attacking him is, well, just think about what happened after the New Yorker cartoon. And is even when it was meant as a satire. I probably don't need to add that I support the American-born African American.”

There were other responses as well, demonstrating the depth of support and passion that many in Nigeria have for the Obama campaign. Which is a good thing, because of course I now count myself as a strong Obama advocate as well. Which is why I have been reading Barack Obama’s “The Audacity of Hope”-a book that has been sitting in my library for some months now, but which I had previously not found time to read. Having read the book, I would strongly recommend that everyone reads it. Perhaps if I had done so long before now, I would have appreciated the vision and clarity of mind that Obama will bring to the US presidency and might perhaps have joined the Obama revolution earlier than now. The book does not offer a “unifying theory of American government” nor “a manifesto for action, complete with charts and graphs, timetables and ten-point plans”. But it gives the best possible insight into the mind and motivation of the author and his vision for America and the world.

The perspective is not neutral-of course Barack Obama as he readily admits is a Democrat, and even though he may not use that word is liberal, is a black man of mixed parentage. But it is a relatively objective analysis devoid of extreme partisanship, ideological posturing or demagoguery. It fits Obama’s change message and his refusal to see America in red or blue, republican or democratic, poor or rich, black, white or Hispanic or other divisive classifications. While the book does not present a unifying theory of government, he does present a common set of values and ideals that bind the US and indeed the world together.

Reading the book, you get the sense of the hand of God steering this young, brilliant, idealistic, intelligent and yet pragmatic lawyer to a great destiny-from his first election to the Illinois state legislature, to winning an unlikely victory in his Senate democratic primary and victory over his republican opponent, both his major opponents having been undone essentially by their divorces, his selection to act as key note speaker at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 and beyond the book to becoming the first African-American nominee of one of the two major US political parties. It seems almost divinely ordained that the next stop is the US Presidency especially after watching the world-the leaders of Iraq and Afghanistan, Jordan, Germany, France and Britain, the US soldiers in Iraq, and over 200,000 people in Berlin treat Obama as if he was already President. When Obama scored that three-pointer on the basket ball court in Iraq, it seemed like a prophetic indicator of something more tangible to come.

But it is in the discussion of Obama’s thoughts on politics, values, the US Constitution, economics and opportunity, race, family and the world beyond the US borders that the profundity of the mind and the values at play in Barack Obama strike you. Any fair-minded reader will soon conclude that this is not just another politician plying his trade. Barack Obama seeks an older tradition of politics. He is grasping at a set of values that he believes are at the heart of the American experience; he argues that there is another tradition to politics which assumes a common destiny and mutual stakeholding in the American dream; and he argues with passion, strong reasoning and conviction.

He argues in favour of a change in values and a change in policy-both cultural transformation and government action-to promote the kind of society America seeks. He discusses the place of money in US politics lamenting the requirements of fund raising and networking with wealthy donors that increasingly takes the elected official or indeed candidate away from the people he enters politics seeking to serve-in his words, “The longer you are a senator, the narrower the scope of your interactions. You may fight it, with town hall meetings and listening tours and stops by the old neighbourhood. But your schedule dictates that you move in a different orbit from most of the people you represent.” He argues (quoting Justice Louis Brandeis) that “in a democracy, the most important office is the office of citizen” (tell that to a Nigerian politician!); he strongly criticizes the republican economic agenda under Bush Jnr which through tax cuts and reduced regulation has catered to the wealthy and ignored the poor and proposes an alternative-based on investments in education, science and technology and energy independence.

Obama repeats the main thrust of his speech in 2004 at the DNC-“There is not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America-there’s the United States of America” but re-emphasizes the reality of the precarious situation blacks and Latinos face. In his discussion of the global environment, Obama is very knowledgeable whether he discusses Indonesia, Vietnam, Iraq, Europe, Africa, China or Russia and presents a well thought out framework for the exercise of US military power and engagement with allies. In the epilogue, Obama writes about the men and women he had met on the campaign trail-their determination, self-reliance and relentless optimism in the face of hardship. He describes this spirit as the best of the American spirit-the audacity to believe despite all evidence to the contrary and called this spirit “The Audacity of Hope”.