Impressing with charisma and a mantra of change

By Ron Ferguson

Published:

SO, THE Barack Obama show is coming to Europe. In some ways, it will be a glamour show, with Europe’s political leaders just as keen to be pictured with the black Democratic candidate as he is with them. It’s meant to be a win-win situation. By being in conversation with European leaders, Obama will be seen to be a statesman on the world stage, comfortable with political power. The leaders, in turn, will be hoping that some of Obama’s magic dust will settle on them. Much smiling is expected.

Barack Obama certainly has charisma. It was seen in the brilliant campaign he ran to be the first Afro-American presidential candidate to win the nomination of his party. The political tectonic plates have shifted, and the intelligent and charming senator from Illinois has done most of the shifting. He came from nowhere to beat the formidable Clinton political machine and nudge the overwhelming favourite, Hillary Clinton, into second place in the race for the Democratic nomination. That took some doing.

What the 46-year-old lacks, though, is experience, particularly in foreign affairs. His tour, then, will put him on a fast learning curve. He needs to portray himself as being up to speed on foreign policy.

How are we to understand this new political phenomenon? I’m inherently suspicious of any eloquent candidate who has “change” as his mantra, yet Mr Obama is an impressive man. Two things about him stand out for me. First and foremost, he spoke out against the Iraq invasion right from the start, at a time when such an act was regarded by most Americans as almost treasonable. It took real courage to do that.

The second thing is that he went down to Martin Luther King’s old church in Atlanta. Rather than simply issue the warm words that would have won him cheap votes, he directly challenged his uncomfortable audience over some African-American attitudes to gays, Jews and migrant workers.

“If we're honest with ourselves,” he said, “we'll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's vision of a beloved community.”

These are the words of a serious man with a moral backbone. If he wins the White House, there will be a radical change in America’s posture towards the rest of the world. Should Obama win the presidency, I hope he carries the flame for King in American public life. I hope, too, that he doesn’t simply follow King in terms of anti-racism, but pays close attention to the visionary preacher’s actions on behalf of the poor in America and against grandiose imperial strutting.

Anyone who can change the mood of American politics has to be a special person. No wonder, then, that Obamamania is breaking out in Europe. On his tour, he is expected to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London and President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris. Obama wants to reinforce the message that his election as president would heal the rift between the US and Europe over the Iraq war.

Obama recognises that the Iraq war is a defining issue for his potential presidency. Having opposed it from the beginning, he has a particular moral authority which his Republican opponent, John McCain, lacks. The recent call by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for a timetable for the removal of American troops from Iraq is seen by Obama as presenting an enormous opportunity. He argues that America should seize this moment to begin the phased redeployment of combat troops.

In an article at the weekend, Senator Obama wrote: “The differences on Iraq in this campaign are deep. Unlike Senator John McCain, I opposed the war in Iraq before it began, and would end it as president. I believed it was a grave mistake to allow ourselves to be distracted from the fight against al Qaida and the Taliban by invading a country that posed no imminent threat and had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks. Since then, more than 4,000 Americans have died and we have spent nearly $1trillion. Our military is overstretched. Nearly every threat we face – from Afghanistan to al Qaida to Iran – has grown.

“As I’ve said many times, we must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in. We can safely redeploy our combat brigades at a pace that would remove them in 16 months. That would be the summer of 2010 – two years from now, and more than seven years after the war began. After this redeployment, a residual force in Iraq would perform limited missions: going after any remnants of al Qaida in Mesopotamia, protecting American service members and, so long as the Iraqis make political progress, training Iraqi security forces. That would not be a precipitous withdrawal.”

In addition to the European visit, Obama is also thought to be planning stops in Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Afghanistan. Clearly, he understands that finding a peaceful solution in Israel/Palestine is essential; whether he can achieve it if he becomes president is another matter. Without a just solution, the Middle East is like a tinder box ready to go up.

What is exciting about the Obama candidacy is that he is drawing many more young people into the political process. Lots of teenagers and people in their early 20s are out there working for him in a way which hasn’t been seen since the days of John and Robert Kennedy.

Whether or not America is ready to vote a black man into the White House is another matter. Senator Obama is still the victim of political smears, suggesting that he is a secret Moslem out to undermine America. The internet conspiracy theorists are in overdrive, with Obama and his wife being described as “terrorists”. It’s hard to take in the fact that there are grown-up Americans who believe this stuff.

We live in interesting times. Barack Obama inspires hope that things can change. To be blunt, I hope the security men are up to the job of keeping him safe – in Europe, in the Middle East, and back home in the US.