The Man Who Would Be KingForty years ago, the successful candidate for the Presidential election managed an outstanding landslide win against his generally disregarded opponent. The electorate's main gripes were the state of the economy, the failure of a mistrusted outgoing president to deliver his promises, and a pointless war being fought thousands of miles away, of which a victory was looking more and more unlikely. Unsurprisingly, the candidate promised a change, a restoration of national pride, and unity. He won with 43.4% of the popular vote, with 31 783 783 individual votes in his favour, gaining 301 votes in the electoral college.
His name? Richard Milhous Nixon.
How did he win? He appealed to a "silent majority" of voters, disaffected by the social upheaval of the 1960s: the assassination of a hugely popular president, the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights and Hippie Movements. According to Nixon, this "silent majority" consisted of "socially conservative Americans", who couldn't concieve a liberal takeover of their country, but felt unable to change it. Sound familiar?
Two days ago, the successful candidate for the Presidential election managed an outstanding landslide win against his generally disregarded opponent. The electorate's main gripes were the state of the economy, the failure of a mistrusted outgoing president to deliver his promises, and a pointless war being fought thousands of miles away, of which a victory was looking more and more unlikely. Unsurprisingly, the candidate promised a change, a restoration of national pride, and unity. He won with 52.5% of the popular vote, with 64 413 006 individual votes in his favour, gaining 364 votes in the electoral college.
His name? Barack Hussein Obama II.
The difference between Nixon and Obama (OK, there are FAR MORE than just one) is that Nixon's idea of what made up the "silent majority" was a demographic group consisting of individuals who may not have all been priviledged, but certainly didn't feel discriminated against for their beliefs, political positions or race.
President-elect Obama (I love saying that) mobilised black people, white middle-class liberals, latinos, native americans, universty students, and disilusioned cynics alike. For he and his followers, the "silent majority" consisted of individuals who wanted to see the course of US politics to change.
Over forty years ago, even when the President-elect was born, members of certain minorities didn't even have the right to vote in general elections. Over the past forty years, there have been five presidents from the Republican Party, and two from the Democrats. For forty years, voter turnout has been lower than 55% (and never higher than 60% for a century). And forty-five years ago, one man laid out his dream for the future of his country - with special reference to race-relations - in the hope that "little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers".
Now, these are just facts and figures, and a whole lot of inference on my part; but it cannot be denied that history has been made, and a lot sooner than I had expected. I don't expect Mr Obama to fulfill all of his promises: after all, he is still a politician. However, as he has repeatedly pointed out, he could only even consider carrying them out with the help of the American people; or his insistence on not the Red or Blue States of America, but the United States of America. He wouldnt be who he is without the power of a vote, and those voters expect him to continue the spirit of citizen empowerment for four more years, maybe eight, maybe forty, or possibly even forever. Symbollically, this has been the most important election in US history.
All I can say is that I feel a mixture of relief, pride and surprise that I witnessed it early on in my adult life.
http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-politics/20081105/Election.Rdp/ - AP News Article, 06/11/08
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm - Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" Speech
very nice,and informative, thanks for that.
ReplyDeleteA good solid, measured article. I was dreading yet more unrestrained, sycophantic hero worship, but you've managed to state the facts, with a degree of perspective, and express the pleasure that most people are feeling right now. Let's hope we don't have to wait as long for your next piece. ;)
ReplyDelete(Btw the only downside to all of this is the loss of both Sarah Palin and George Dubya - comedy gold the pair of 'em. Whatever will we do for laughs now?)