HOPE

I have written a lot about policy and in particular, about economic policy. While I think we need to consider what types of policy decisions a candidate stands for and will make, I am realizing that is only half of the reason why we might vote for a candidate. The other half rests upon a candidates ability to inspire, upon their ability to give us hope that no matter what may come a better future awaits us.

While I tend to agree with Obama on policy, I am also realizing that what gets me so excited about him has nothing to do with any particular position on taxation, health care, or foreign policy. Whether one disagrees with Senator Obama or not, there are substantial arguments to be made for all of his positions. So if it is not policy, what is it?

It is hope.

A recent opinion piece in the Christian Science Monitor entitled My wife made me canvass for Obama; Here's what I learned states,

I've learned that this election is about the heart of America. It's about the young people who are losing hope and the old people who have been forgotten. It's about those who have worked all their lives and never fully realized the promise of America, but see that promise for their grandchildren in Barack Obama. The poor see a chance, when they often have few. I saw hope in the eyes and faces in those doorways.

While I've respected and even admired John McCain at times, he simply does not embody this sense of hope. While I may not agree with all of his policy positions, I recognize that substantial arguments can be made for them. Yet this is not enough. John McCain simply does not have the same ability to inspire, to unite, and to provide hope in the same way Obama does.

While some may argue that such a feeling (yes it is an emotional response) ought not to be a reason to vote for a candidate, I think we're being naive if can't admit that our emotions play a role. Moreover, I think we're being naive if we can't see the importance of that role. Just imagine a nation that cannot unite itself in common purpose in times of great tragedy and challenge. Just imagine a nation whose people cannot be summoned to aim for a greater good, for the common good. Self-interest, after all, has its limits.

As this is likely one of my last posts on this blog I find myself reflecting on why I am voting for Obama. I do indeed agree with many of his policies and I opine that they are well crafted and thoroughly thought out. I do indeed value his experience as a professor of Constitutional Law, as the president of the Harvard Law Review, his time spent in the Economics department at the University of Chicago, and his time working as a community organizer. I also appreciate his pragmatism and his interest in looking at what research says actually works. In addition, his ability to assemble an impressive team of experts, something which David Brooks event commented upon, is something I value.

Yet with all this substance, I have to admit the biggest reason I'm voting for Obama is hope. Hope that despite our differences we can still come together. Hope that all the rhetoric in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution is indeed more than mere words. Hope that America will remain the greatest nation on earth, not because of our military or economic might, but because of the ideals we aspire to. Moreover, I think Obama inspires an active form of hope. A hope that we are the ones who will live up to those ideals. A hope that does not look to someone else to bring change, but rather a hope that empowers, a hope that we are the ones who will change this world.

If artist endorsements ever account for much, it is their ability to capture the emotions that a candidate inspires. The song Yes We Can by will.i.am should not be taken in and of itself as a reason to vote for Obama, but as an embodiment of the hope that Obama inspires. Whether one likes this or not, agrees with it or not, this ability to inspire hope ought to be taken seriously.



It is for many reasons that I am voting for Obama, but above all, it is hope.