Obama the Nominee

8 T I K K U N W W W. T I K K U N . O R G J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 0 8 Obama the Nominee BY MICHAEL LERNER B arackObama’snominationbytheDemocratsis the most significant progressive electoral victory in several decades. The hard work of peace, environmental , social justice, human rights, anti-racist, womenandgayactivistscreatedtheclimateinwhich he could win. But the Left could only win because Obama was able to embody the spiritual dimension andelicitinmanyAmericansdeeplyrepresseddesiresforcommunity ,mutualrecognition,authenticandnon-manipulatedfeelings, and ultimately a sense that our lives have a higher meaning than the frenetic pursuit of money, power, fame, sexual conquest and accumulation of things that have dominated American life for many many decades under Republican and Democratic presidencies alike. Therehavebeenalotofbadfeelingsexpressedbysupportersof Senator Hillary Clinton about the sexism she experienced on the campaign trail, and some feel that she ultimately lost because, as a woman,shedidnotgetequalrespect.Thesexismbythemediaand by some men in the primary states was indeed fierce and disgusting . But we have to ask what man, even one as smart and hardworking as Hillary Clinton, could have done as well in these primaries,ifhehadrepresented,asshedid,theestablishedleadership of the Democratic Party who voted for the Iraq War and continued to fund it? Her gender and resulting support from women helpedherovercomethatsupremeobstacle. Exit polls indicated that a significant portion of Senator Clinton ’svoterswereconsideringvotingforSenatorMcCaininsteadof Senator Obama. It may be that some of those were disgruntled feminists who want to punish the Democratic Party for decisions that hurt Clinton’s candidacy. But not many fit that category, becauseMcCain ’soppositiontoRoev.Wadeandhislikelypackingthe court with yet more right-wing justices who seek to dismantle women’s rights makes him an unlikely candidate for feminist support . The majority of those of Senator Clinton’s former supporters who will vote for McCain were people who were attracted to her more because of her appearance as the militarist candidate who talked the language of “obliterating Iran” and who had to be pushed kicking and screaming into the position of calling for an end to the Iraq war in 2009. Far from working against her, it was only her gender that made it possible for her to have held together in the same electoral coalition the feminists with the anti-choice andmostpro-warelementsinherparty,andnomantakingherpolitical stance as a supporter of a militarist consciousness for many yearswouldhavehadachanceagainstEdwardsandObamainthe politicalclimateof2008. Obama supporters and, we are certain, the overwhelming majority of Hillary supporters, believe it is important to try to overcomethebadfeelingsoftheveryhurtfulcampaignandtocelebrate this very simple fact: Tens of millions of Americans have beenwillingtocontemplateandsupportthepossibilitythateither awomanoraBlackmancouldbethenextpresidentoftheUnited States. Realists, wake up. It was you “realists” who only a short while ago were teaching us that no Black and no woman could ever make it to that level of power in the racist and sexist realities of Americansociety.Theymaynotthistimein2008,butthecertaintythattheycannotisonceandforallbroken . This is how it has always been in our world. Most of us get intimidated into passivity because “the realists” badger us into accepting a reality we despise. Yet the most significant changes in humanhistoryhavealwaysoccurredbecausesomesmallgroupof peoplewasnotwillingtobebadgeredthatwayanymore. Ofcourse,whatchangedwasn’tchangedbyHillaryClintonor BarackObama,butratherbyhundredsofmillionsofinteractions that have taken place on a daily basis for at least the past thirty years between people influenced by the anti-racist and feminist movementsandpeoplewhohadnotyetgottenthemessage.Now theygetit,haveassimilatedit,andarereadytoworkwithit. Something very powerful is changing. The willingness of so many Whites to vote for a Black man who started his career as a community organizer and who remains committed to social justiceandanendtopovertymayattimesfeellikeamoderndaymir acle , even though his programs may be deficient in some ways. DittothewillingnessofsomanyWhiteworkingclassmentosupportawomancandidateforpresidentisareasontorejoice .Thata EDITORIAL Supporters listen as Senator Barack Obama campaigns in Davenport, Iowa. AP PHOTO/M. SPENCER GREEN editorial:Editorials+Columns 6/11/08 12:22 PM Page 8 J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 0 8 W W W. T I K K U N . O R G T I K K U N 9 woman was able to become the more conservative mainstream candidate deserves our appreciation, because even though—having watched Margaret Thatcher and Golda Meir in office—we knowthatawomanmayendupbeingjustasinsensitivetothesufferingofthepoorandjustasmilitaristasanymancouldbe ,werecognize that the struggle against sexism and the uprooting of the worldview it has generated (including in particular “toughness” as acentralvalue)isoneofthemostimportantstrugglestakingplace intheworldtoday,andonethatwewholeheartedlysupport. Could we please, as a society, take a moment, perhaps this July 4th...