President Obama
We have witnessed one of the greatest public social events in American history. Not since Martin Luther King, Jr.’s great 1963 gathering in Washington DC and his “I have a Dream” speech have we seen or heard such a public occasion in America, or such a speech as “A New Birth of Freedom.”
Of course, like all charismatic and popular leaders, President Obama is under tremendous pressure to deliver the goods. He faces more problems than Franklin Delano Roosevelt did in his inauguration in the depth of the Great Depression. Two wars, a world wide major recession, economic chaos at home, massive home foreclosures and rising unemployment, a nuclear threat from Iran and North Korea, and a continuing Middle East problem that has been unable to be solved by every great leader since 1900.
Having raised the stakes with his vision of hope and change, President Obama faces the reality of governing which is much more difficult than even getting elected. But Obama is showing all the good signs of being able to do so, in spite of the critics, sceptics and doubters, and “the sky is falling” attitude of many conservatives.
I have been making a study of the political strategy of Barack Obama for the past three years. I have read his two books and have noted every article by journalists. I addressed the CDP Annual Conference on his success to date. You can read that speech on my website:
http://www.gordonmoyes.com/2008/09/12/how-barack-obama-will-change-our-politics/
In it I gave six reasons why he would win. He has totally rewritten the strategy of successful campaigning for elections. His strategy will be studied in every forthcoming election. I predicted his success against the heavily cashed up Hilary Clinton, and his next opponent, John McCain.
Obama laid down three ruling principles for his future: run the campaign with respect; build it from the bottom up; and finally, no drama.
The reason why he succeeded is that he gave the people of the USA hope. That word was reborn in 2008. Everyone I met in the USA was talking hope, and those who didn’t said they sure hoped that Obama would pull it off. The people are tired of leaders who have kept emphasising negative policies. The old way was to stress the fear of terrorism, the menace of illegal immigration, the peril of fanatical Islam, and the threat that the Christian way of life is being ended by secular humanism and militant religious persecution.
But there is a whole generation of people looking for change, and either leaders change and gain their support, or else die out quickly as totally irrelevant.
This week over two million Americans have come to Washington DC, in the greatest crowd ever seen at an inauguration. The essence is that Obama has given the people of America, and other countries, hope in his vision of the future. This is not a time to be promoting fear among our citizens, anxiety among our aged people and disillusionment among young adults. We pray for his effective Presidency and the resolutions of these problems.
REV THE HON DR. GORDON MOYES AC, MLC
