Why Obama Won

In 2009, Barack Obama will be at the helm of this nation. For better or for worse, the votes are in. Some Americans see the ascendancy of Barack Obama to the White House as a road to tyranny. Others are enthusiastic about the next four years.

But why did Obama win this election?

Let me come clean and say I did not support Barack Obama’s bid for the presidency. I didn’t support John McCain, either. I just want to take a step back and review what led this country to elect him and not his opponent.

McCain’s Downfall
It was not impossible for a Republican candidate to win the 2008 election. Perhaps it was improbable, but not impossible. While the Bush legacy divided this country, and created a wedge within the Republican Party, the reasons John McCain failed in his bid for the presidency lie less in the murky waters of George W. Bush, but instead at the feet of only one person: John McCain himself.

John McCain has been out of touch with the Republican base for a number of years, often compromising with rivals across the aisle, even at the expense of his own Party. His centrist views have not endeared him with Republicans. Miraculously, McCain acquired his Party’s nomination for President, a fact still mystifying to some of those to the political right.

McCain’s “straight talk” resembled John Kerry’s flip-flopping. When confronted with the possibility of an economic recession, he insisted the economic fundamentals of this country were strong. When proven wrong, McCain switched his story and claimed he was one of the few who “saw it coming”. At another time, he assured us an engagement in Iraq would be a piece of cake only to later say he was an early critic of that school of thought. The list goes on and on.

His lack of confidence didn’t help him either. Whether in front of the press or an audience, McCain failed to emerge knowledgeable or reassuring on the issues. When speaking his deliveries appeared clumsy, and while answering questions his policies seemed weak. For example, during the debates Barack Obama tore apart McCain’s healthcare plan not once, but twice. McCain should have responded with beefier defenses, but instead one was left to conclude his healthcare plan just didn’t add up.

McCain wanted to have his cake and eat it too. While admittedly in-between a rock and a hard place, his crowning of Obama as a socialist didn’t fly without a denunciation of the recent eight year expansion of government, which he chose to purposely avoid critiquing. This was typical McCain. He didn’t wish to appear in bed with Bush, but neither did he want to distance himself. A clear example is the Wall Street bailout, which he supported, turning off a strong Republican base by siding with the President and Barack Obama. This was the wrong move at a time when the Republican Party wished to shift right, while McCain firmly stood for the neo-conservative policies of the current administration.

On the topic of abortion, as John Médaille said recently, McCain wasn’t pro-life but rather “anti-abortion”("Pro-Life or Just Anti-Abortion?"). Supportive of embryonic stem cell research, disinterested in overturning Roe v. Wade or banning contraceptives, the relationship between the pro-life movement and McCain was an uneasy one at best. For some pro-lifers, McCain was the compromise necessary in order to “stop Obama.” But a vote against someone doesn’t radiate loyalty for the person one is voting for. So, while Republicans were treated to the typical “better than…” in the 2004 presidential election, and “a vote for ______ is a vote for Obama” in 2008, both tactics failed this time around.

According to statistics, during the 2000 presidential election, 50% of Catholic voters supported Gore to Bush’s 47%. The 2004 campaign targeting Catholics for the Republican vote successfully brought in a majority percentage for George W. Bush, with a 5% lead. During this last election, the trend shifted to the Democrats with a nine percent increase. (Source: http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=367)

In the final analysis, Republicans just didn’t have a good candidate here. If Dole, Bush, and McCain are the best and brightest the Republican Party can come up with, maybe they should pack it in and step aside for another Party to replace them.

Obama Rising
We haven't experienced an articulate, energetic, and charismatic candidate in years. Dole, Gore, Bush, and Kerry have been as interesting as watching the paint dry. Obama displayed tact, eloquence, and reminded some of Reagan or Kennedy, both phenomenal orators. Barack Obama spoke directly to his followers and addressed their concerns as no other candidate in recent memory. He did so with poise, exuberant speeches, and a mobile, dynamic network.

For his opponents, Obama supporters were a mindless mob mystically following the Pied Piper. But did they throw away their reason or is it possible Obama won this election because he connected with the common man?

From the beginning, the Presidential candidate ran an inclusive campaign and outreach program aimed at swing voters exhausted with sixteen years of Clintons and Bushes. America was ready to unite and move forward, and Obama wouldn’t lower himself to the "us vs. them" mentality between the common man and the establishment. Instead, he appealed to Americans willing to change this country for themselves, as admittedly the tough challenges ahead could not be solved by government, but only by the people of this nation, from community to community. By acknowledging the bureaucracy of the State could not solve everything, but required the work of the “average joe,” Obama reiterated the famous speech given by J.F.K. that we should not ask what our country could do for us, but what we could do for our country. This passionate plea for recruitment to his cause by the common man came at a time when individuality and community struck citizens as a natural alliance, lost after decades of self-interest.

Remarkably, Obama also spoke candidly about the concerns of African-Americans, yet he didn't fail to fairly portray those of whites in the United States. In an age of “hate whitey” and labeling the genuine concerns of whites as “racist,” the President-elect spent a good 45 minutes talking about the stalemate of racial discussion in our nation. He pointed to disenfranchised African-Americans, and in a surprise move, acknowledged the concerns white Americans have with respect to immigration, job-loss, and a fractured welfare program in need of a serious overhaul. He did it, and did so without the media “moderating” the discussion, which in this writer’s opinion has been the problem all along with the racial divide in this country.

Obama even managed to launch a coup by acquiring the support of many prominent and noteworthy figures within the Republican Party. A number of these, concerned with the neo-conservative takeover of the Party by the Religious Right (who I call the Nationalist Right, because of their supreme love for the American Mythos), switched sides because they believed Obama’s plan was a better alternative to the policies of the previous two terms.

This was an exercise to briefly analyze why Barack Obama won. Will his election prove to be a substantial help towards a distributist society? Some of my fellow distributists will disagree with me, but my answer is no, he will not. I do believe we can learn something from this election, especially in regard to presentation. But in the final analysis, neither Obama nor John McCain is right for the future of this nation. We can only quarrel amongst ourselves about who is better than the other, as we have done throughout the campaign. Instead, our urgent cause needs us to work towards more important objectives, and one of them is recognizing the opportunity in our midst to transform the priorities of a nation, by understanding how this election was won.

The work ahead will not come from above (except by God’s Grace) but from the bottom up.