Progressive Movement

The dust has not yet settled from the election and the war over the meaning of the election, and whether there was a mandate and what kind of mandate it is, has just begun.

As expected, Republicans who claimed Obama was a socialist now claim he won as a conservative and only has a mandate to rule from the center. Their main rationale? America, they claim, is still a center right country.

It makes sense they would say this. If the Republicans admit Obama has a progressive mandate, it clearly makes their life more difficult if Obama believes he has one. So they obviously want to spin this as a status quo election. Then, if Obama does govern progressively, they can claim he has exceeded his mandate, the sin of hubris having gotten the best of him, and that he must be taken down.

If this is all the public hears, they may well believe it, and they too will be aghast if Obama dare try to do something like universal health care, or getting out of Iraq quickly. Ultimately this will turn them against Obama, setting the stage for mid-term election disaster or a single term Presidency.

So are we a center-right country?

This is really the primary question. Even if Obama got a progressive mandate, that does not mean such a mandate would fly for very long in a country that leans conservative. Thankfully, we are not center-right.

If you look at polls regarding actual issues, the public solidly supports liberal proposals, things like strong environmental protections, fighting climate disruption, universal health care, strong public education, fair trade, nuclear disarmament/reductions, infrastructure projects, balanced budgets, progressive taxation, safe and legal abortions, and others.

The problem is that people do not identify themselves as liberals, even though their views are. This comes down to a problem of messaging, as almost all things do. Liberal has a lousy brand. Over the years conservatives have done an excellent job of making ‘liberal’ a bad word, as I have mentioned many times before.

However, the last two elections ought to show that people are souring on the ‘conservative’ brand and while not necessarily embracing the ‘liberal’ brand, are at least willing to elect those labeled as liberal by the Republicans.

Even more convincing, (more…)

Messaging, Elections, media, Obama, Analysis, Narratives | No Comments »

Wow, I never thought I would see it. An African American has won the Presidency. If nothing else, this should restore faith in American ideals and democracy. Not just here, but around the world. Already we have seen people all across the globe rejoice in the promise that is the United States.

We all saw it in the faces of the crowd at Grant Park, where Obama gave his speech. From the televised shots of gatherings in Atlanta, and in the streets of DC. It was if a burden of oppression had been lifted off their backs, America’s soiled history on race finally beginning to be wiped clean. True joy gleamed across their faces. Years of struggle for equality finally paid off in something real, something tangible.

And not just with African Americans. Anglo Americans tired of years of racism and disappointed by their country not achieving its full potential due to its inability to allow African Americans full participation in society, they too had a burden lifted off of their shoulders.

Young kids of all colors and creeds (except Islam, unfortunately) now believe they can achieve anything. ‘Yes I can’ they now say.

I drove down by the White House after Obama’s acceptance speech. What a scene. People yelling “Obama!”, hugging each other, waving signs, running wild in the streets. Traffic at a near crawl, horns honking, drivers and passengers waving to everyone, hi-fiving the pedestrians running down the street. Even the taxi drivers were getting in on the action.

It was as if the Washington Redskins had just won the Super Bowl.

“Not just a mere election” I opined, “but something much more than that has just happened. America has turned the page. A new chapter has begun.”

Seriously, the heart and capital of the Confederacy, Virginia, voted to elect America’s first black President. That is transformation.

We do not get to witness history in the making too often. Not on this scale. We should savor it while we can. Soon the nasty tit for tat will begin, and we will go back to our daily grind. But even if you disagree with the policies of Obama and the Democrats, something transcendent just happened. We chose hope over fear, ability over skin color, progress over regress. And for that we should be proud.

There is a brotha’ in the White House. There is a friggin’ brotha’ in the White House!

Amen.

Elections, Obama, Analysis, Racism | 1 Comment »

On this eve of the election, here are my final thoughts on the campaign messaging.

Obama

He started the primaries using lofty rhetoric and moral explanations for progressive policies. That inspired the base while pulling moderates to his side who were hungry to hear the values of progressivism after so many years where liberals hide from speaking in quasi-religious terminology.

However, once he won the nomination, he slowly started to speak in more detail about issues. His convention speech deftly blended issues, vision, and moral values. I feel he would have kept on that path, except he got hit hard a few weeks earlier with McCain’s celebrity ad. So while the Republicans were having their Palin/convention day in the Sun, Obama retooled the tone and messaging of the campaign.

Without anyone noticing the shift, he started almost exclusively talking about specific issues and policies, dropping the high language and bringing the issues down to the regular person’s understanding and experience. He appeared more serious and thoughtful, less preacher like. The debates drove this home, when he scored three victories against McCain by his demeanor alone, but added to his dominating performance by avoiding the tit-for-tat with McCain on useless mudslinging. This gave him more time to get detailed about his plans, making him seem erudite and thorough.

This was done solely to undercut the McCain line of attack the Obama was not ready. He showed in the debates he was. But rather than directly respond to McCain’s attacks, in a he said, he said sort of way, Obama simply demonstrated that McCain was wrong. Absolutely brilliant.

Moreover, he pivoted away from his more progressive language and embraced more centrist, post-partisan language. This is not unique for campaigns to do in general elections, but it stands in stark contrast with McCain, who went further to the right.

Obama’s VP pick also showed his way of dealing with the experience charge. Many progressive blogs wanted Obama to pick a ‘reinforcing’ VP rather than the ‘balancing’ pick of Joe Biden. But Obama knew he had to mollify people’s fears over this experience, so he went with the experienced Biden. This demonstrated Obama’s ability to make a thoughtful and serious choice.

The message discipline has been tight. Most recently, (more…)

Messaging, Elections, McCain, Obama, Analysis | No Comments »