American dream?
by Duncan O'Leary
Duncan O'Leary
I've been wondering about this ever since i first saw him speak. I'm naturally suspicious of anyone trying to argue that partisanship is the problem - normally it is a (much needed) indication of differing priorities/world-views etc that is crucial in a democracy.However, i think his point is not that there aren't real and substantive choices to be made (like how you get healthcare to those who need it), but rather that people have more in common than they often realise. Many Democracts are religious. Republicans care about pensioners and many have gay friends.So (i hope) his point is there are different political paths for people to choose between, but that doesn't mean that people are fundamentally different from one another - and it is perfectly legitimate to vote for the Democrats if you believe in God, for example.Tough job trying to explain that politics matters, but that a fractured society is a bad thing, but someone's got to do it...
Simon Parker
This seems to be a pretty healthy change in American politics - rather than sticking to their sclerotic 'culture wars' positions, the Democrats have responded to a radical White House by aiming for broad appeal. Essentially, the message is starting to become: 'vote for our progressive economic policies and we promise not to take away your gun and your bible.'The question is, do the Dems lose something by toning down some of their social positions? What's the price of marching to the centre? The idea of a tough liberalism that it's touch with the majority appeals, but does it force progressives to ignore deep-rooted inequalities that the public doesn't seem to want tackled?
Ingrid Wassenaar
The danger is that Barack Obama is a kind of Sphinx, propounding enigmatic riddles but not concrete policy. He is himself a hybrid of black and white. So he embodies splitness and the desire for unification. He also accepts that full reconciliation is impossible. Difference is encoded in his DNA. This must be a major psychological motor in him. Together with his undoubted intellect and oratorical abilities, his understanding of difference also turns him into a mirror, as Crabtree says in February's Prospect. Every individual can see a little of him or herself in him. There is an Obama-shaped space in American politics, and his timing is perfect. But he is politically completely untested. He has walked into the Senate. He is not African-American. He does not have the history of a Hillary Clinton. The fear that he will disappoint must be as painful as his presence is exhilerating. He himself has said that he is a 'stand-in' for America's desire for change. But where is the real Obama, then?Surely we have been here before, in Britain, in 1997? A marriage between old Labour and new meritocratic arguments? The faith-based oratory? Obama's 'coming to faith' (he grew up a sceptic in a lapsed Baptist household) should surely be seen as suspicious by the Left, here and in the States. To found democracy on faith is to endanger the freedoms of all of us. Obama may not mean to fudge democracy with faith, but his relatively lightweight pronouncements on policy, home and foreign, protected under the capacious umbrella of faith-based inspirational rhetoric, will come under attack as his campaign progresses. Here's hoping the Sphinx will have a view on free speech, the environment and the Middle East beyond saying they're all good.
Will Davies
The Democrats have responded to a radical White House by aiming for broad appeal. Essentially, the message is starting to become: 'vote for our progressive economic policies and we promise not to take away your gun and your bible.' Hang on. Remember Ricky Ray Rector? The Democrats have spent the past twenty years (at least) doing things in the attempt to throw off their liberal, McGovernite reputation, and have usually only failed thanks to guilt-by-association (i.e. both Dukakis and Kerry were from Massachusetts, hence were viewed as too liberal regardless of their protests to the contrary). Sad to say, but Obama will face an identical obstacle thanks to the colour of his skin.
Simon Parker
I was thinking of this Joe Klein article...http://www.time.com/time/columnist/klein/article/0,9565,1587190,00.html
Simon Parker
I read a really interesting critique of Obama in Prospect. Essentially, the argument was that here is a man with an orthodox liberal voting record, preaching harmony and optimism because he believes all opposites can be reconciled. Maybe that's the way to play it in an America that is not as polarised as people often argue. But I wonder how long the vision of hope can stand against what will certainly be some bitter disagreements with the republicans.The very real danger is that Obama is just an inspired rhetorician without the policy substance to turn an attractive vision into reality. Hope not, because he does sound realllly good (but I thought that about Howard Dean)..