The

Al’s
Loupe                                                                                 Read Spanish Version

The
‘new’ Obama: A stumble or his new gait?

By
Alvaro F. Fernandez
alfernandez@the-beach.net

Barack
Obama may still turn out to be just another politician who wants to
be president. Since he became the presumptive Democratic Party
nominee, the junior senator from Illinois has seemed to be everything
but what some of us expected of him.

It
appears that to be a progressive, liberal, or to the left — call it
what you will — in this country is to be a second class citizen; one
that doesn’t deserve the attention or respect that conservatives or
neo-cons receive. You must cater to the right to win elections is the
accepted theory. And not that Obama is or has ever pretended to be a
progressive, liberal or to the left. But at one time during his
primary campaign he sold us on change. And that sparked a positive
reaction to him in this country.

My
kind does not need a label. Just keep us out of the column which
espouses values now being propagated by those same neo-cons or
conservatives: a group whose main claim to the values of Americanism
are their ability to come up with great names for terrible programs:
Patriot Act and No Child Left Behind come immediately to mind.

During
his historic primary march, where he wrested the nomination from
Hillary Clinton, Obama demonstrated a passion and relentlessness for
change not expected from modern-day U.S. politicians. With every stop
he connected with voters who had felt left out of the system for too
long. Along the way he also woke up a sleeping giant in this country
— young voters whose numbers during election season are usually
dismal. He promised to bring home the troops from Iraq, cut the wings
of special interests in Washington, and eliminate wedge issue
campaigning, a la Karl Rove, by addressing all of us as Americans not
compartmentalizing us as blacks, browns, whites, yellows, reds,
liberals or conservatives.

But
since he stood with Hillary Clinton in Unity, New Hampshire,
accepting the former First Lady’s endorsement for president, Obama
seems to have become, as a New York Times editorial headline depicted
him, “New and Not Improved.”

“The
new Barack Obama has abandoned his vow to filibuster an electronic
wiretapping bill if it includes an immunity clause for
telecommunications companies…” said the New York Times editorial.
“The new Barack Obama tells evangelical Christians that he wants to
expand President Bush’s policy of funneling public money for social
spending to religious-based organizations…” the editorial
continues.

In
the past few weeks Obama has also seemed to waffle on Iraq and the
return of American soldiers home when he said he would “continue to
refine my policy.” Many have interpreted this comment as taking a
step back on his commitment to bring the soldiers back within 16
months of his election.

Who
is the new Obama? I hope it’s the same old Obama who stumbled on
the way to the White House. The good news, there is time to correct
the misstep.

As
I told a good friend who has devoted a good part of this past year to
assuring an Obama win and at this point feels dejected and betrayed,
blame the system not the candidate. What made Obama special, in fact,
was his commitment to take on that system. That courage enlivened
many who had stayed on the sideline for many years convinced that
politicians were not addressing their problems. Obama seemed to
change that.

Then
again, if that Obama stumble becomes his gait the rest of the way,
then I see similarities to Kerry in ’04 and definitely Gore in 2000
— candidates who went into elections that were theirs to lose.

The
new Obama currently carries a mostly 3 or 4 percent lead nationally
against McCain in most polls. Experts will tell you that is not a big
enough lead to beat McCain in November. They explain that high
propensity voters tend to be more educated and in the higher income
brackets. You will find a large number of republicans in that group.

Obama
must carry marginalized voters: He must carry first-time voters,
women, minorities, the young and others to win. To do that he must
re-engage them in a national conversation which he was carrying out
beautifully until his recent stumble. 

If
he refuses to right his misstep and not challenge the system, many of
the marginalized voters I mention will not be there for him in
November. If that is the case, Obama will lose.