NOTE: The Moderate Voice runs Guest Voice posts from time to time by readers who don’t have their own websites, or people who have websites but would like to post something for TMV’s diverse and thoughtful readership. Guest Voice posts do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Moderate Voice or its writers.
This Guest Voice post is by Kevin Anderson, a graduate of Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio, and a freelance writer. In June he wrote this well-received Guest Voice post on Obama. He is also an obsessive follower of U.S. politics and sports.
No Messiah Comes This Way
by Kevin Anderson
This is not meant as a repudiation of Barack Obama. I’ve been an Obamite since 2006, and I strongly believe that he is the right man for the right time (I wrote an article encouraging Sen. Obama to run in ’08 back in October 2006). But it has been pointed out recently that some Obama supporters attribute near messianic characteristics to him.
It must be stated right here that, in the end, Barack Obama is a politician. As such, he has flaws. In fact, one could argue that he has just as many flaws as Sen. Clinton, his main Democratic rival. Of course, I will argue that her flaws trouble me much more than his do, but the point remains that he is no perfect angel. He will not transcend the time-space continuum, the dead will not rise at his beckon call, and yes, he has made mistakes (Rezko) and will do so again in the future. Above all, he is human, full of promise and full of flaws.
None of this is to say that the Obama movement is illusory. As a strong supporter, I say that the contrary is true. In his speech on Super Tuesday, the Senator said, “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” This is why it doesn’t really matter that Obama is no poltical messiah.
You see, this is no longer just about him. This campaign is a referendum of sorts, not simply on Republican governance but, more fundamentally, on what we want to be as individuals and a nation. Do we want to, just this once, put a little faith in our fellow Americans (even if we disagree with them), or will we take the cynic’s way out? Do we choose a new, bold path that challenges all of us to work together, or do we just leave it to Washington to fail to do anything again?
Fundamentally, Barack Obama’s message is one of empowerment. People mistakenly suggest that he claims to bring about this sweeping change all by himself. If that’s what he was saying, this movement would never have started. Instead, he is calling on the American people to be active participants.
One man cannot change the trajectory of a nation; thousands, if not millions, of people from all walks of life joined together can do surprising things. While movements cannot end injustices or bring about change by themselves, they are vital in pushing those in power, and the entire nation, towards those ends.
What we’ve seen is a desire, especially among the young, to make a difference for this country. Far too many have assumed that we were content to merely live our lives, letting the world go on as it will. In truth, no one had called us in such a way until Barack Obama.
I do not support him out of some messianic yearning, and those who do should be marginalized immediately. No, I support him because he seems to believe in seeking out what is possible, not simply telling us what cannot be done. I support him because he seeks not just to change the names on the doors but to change what those names mean. Most of all, I support him because he has enough faith in this country to ask me and other Americans to contribute to our future.
We don’t need a messiah for that; we simply need to look in the mirror.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.