Nov 05 2008
Obama opens the doors
Barack Obama goes where no black man has gone before.
Today has seen a defining moment in American and in world history.
You may or may not be happy with the result. You may doubt whether this young – yes, 47 still counts as young in global leader terms – whether this young man has the skills to make a great President of the USA. What you cannot doubt is that you are watching history in the making.
Yes, now we can believe anything is possible. Barack Obama has motivated many Americans to get out and vote for the first time in their lives or following many years of cynical apathy.
John McCain, even in defeat is emphasising that we/he must look to the future, for opportunities to serve his country.
Martin Luther King had his dream, that his children be judged, not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. Have we seen that day in our lifetime?
Obama himself asked “Is there anyone who still doubts… that anything is possible”.
Amazing as this result is, we still need to remember that this successful election campaign cost this particular candidate more than 5 billion dollars. The Obama team has skillfully used new media, video, YouTube and email campains… and can you believe that YouTube didn’t even feature in the last presidential campaign?! How times change!
Maybe one piece of good news more locally is the recent observation that in the UK, for the first time in years, maybe ever, educational success has less to do with the wealth of your parents. So maybe we are beginning to recognise and reward talent.
Given that we spend so much of our time telling our 16 and 18 year olds that the exams they spend months and years preparing for are getting easier and their qualifications (by implication) are worth-less, perhaps we need to rethink how we shape our dreams.
Mind you, with the realisation that success can still cost a lot of money (whether for an election campaign or for higher education) we should also acknowledge that we need to shape fundraisers, people who can create wealth, who can motivate real people to work together for change, to make a difference.
What a future!
Margaret I quite agree with you about the obscene amount of money spent on the campaign. Yet, I have great hopes for Obama. The world needs influential leaders with a broader perspective who can focus on people within politics and economics. It will also be nice to have a US president who can string a coherent and meaningful sentence together won’t it?
I am clearly in love with the future president as I dreamt about him on election night If you fancy a giggle read about it on my blog http://www.marietayloronline.com