fearofobama

Fear is one of the most dominating psychological emotions human beings have.  At some point in all of our lives we’ve been afraid of the dark, scary movies, jumping into a cold swimming pool, eating foods that are foreign to us, spiders and snakes, not doing well on a public speech, or simply making the wrong choice in an important decision.  Yet, what’s more important to our well-being is our ability to understand that these are primarily fears of the mind and not necessarily dangers.  To point, almost all Americans have dealt with the “fears” listed above and guess what, nothing happened, which brings me to this year’s presidential election. 

After Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2008 Democratic National Convention speech on Tuesday night, I watched as CNN reporter Suzanne Malveaux interview a Clinton delegate on the convention floor.  The woman, an African American, talked about how “presidential” Clinton’s speech was and that Hillary would have made an excellent president.  Then she went on to tell Malveaux, and a national audience, that Obama has 2 months to get her vote or else she may not vote this year.  Her fear was that Obama didn’t have enough experience and that she just could not see putting someone with so little experience in the White House.  She actually came to tears and had to be comforted by a gentleman standing next to her. 

At first I was somewhat shocked that immediately after Clinton had explicitly and strongly encouraged all her delegates to support Obama that this woman would still have reservations.  As I saw the woman cry, I came to the realization that she was really afraid.  And, the first thing I thought about was, “afraid of what?”  What do people think will happen if Obama is elected president and assumes leadership in the White House?  I wonder if people think that somehow Obama will have a big control panel in front of him, and him alone, and people think he won’t read the instructions manual or something.  But, the fears that are being expressed in polls and public conversations about Obama are a prime example of how our minds can create fears that may practically no danger. 

Let’s explore some fact about the Obama campaign related to the voice of the people in America.  Barack Obama won 2,201 (54%) of the combined delegates and super delegates.  According to the Real Clear Politics website he won 17,535,458 (48%) of votes in the Democratic primary (Clinton won an estimated 17,493,836 or 48%).  Obama won primary contests in 30 states, including southern states such as Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina all by double digit percentage points.  Obama won every Democratic caucus—13 out of 14 states—except for Nevada.  He won in big states such as Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota, Iowa, Maryland, Virginia, Wisconsin, and North Carolina.  Although he lost larger states like California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, Arizona, and New York, in none of those states did he gain less than 40% (4 out of 10) of the Democratic vote. 

Contrary to many media reports, according to a New York Times analysis of exit poll data from 36 states, Obama won several key demographics during the Democratic primary.  He won the female vote in 16 out of 36 states including Georgia, South Carolina, Illinois, Maryland, Oregon, and Missouri.  He won the “white” vote (which sounds really wrong) in states like Wisconsin, Iowa, Virginia, Utah, Oregon, New Mexico, and Vermont.  He won the 60 and older vote in Illinois, Georgia, South Carolina, Connecticut, Virginia, and Vermont.  He won the “no college” education vote in state like Mississippi, North Carolina, Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, Maryland, and Wisconsin.  Finally, there were no states where Obama did not win a single gender, race, age, income, or education demographic; however, Hillary Clinton did not win the African American vote in a single state.  

Now, let’s explore Obama the political figure.  He has campaigned since February of 2007—18months—with approximately 2 weeks of vacation.  He has had to endure death threats to him and his family, negative and often vile remarks about his heritage, scrutiny of his every word and act, and constant criticism from not only his political opponents, but also a former president of the United States.  When his former pastor made ostensibly negative remarks about race in America and the historical patterns of activities between the U.S. government and the black community, Obama was basically forced to not only speak for his pastor, but also for the entire black race. Even under these tough circumstances, Obama and his campaign have raised more money—almost $400 million as of the end of June 2008—than any other candidate who has ever run for any political office in the entire world. 

What about Obama’s political activities.  He has served on the Senate Foreign Relations, Environment and Public Works, and Veteran Affairs, and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees.   Also a number of issues Obama has publicly stood on have come to pass as favorable ideas.  Obama opposed the war while running for the U.S. Senate in 2004, and has suggested setting a timeline for troop redeployment.  He has also stated since that same time the focus of the War on Terror should be on Afghanistan, and that the U.S. should pressure Parkistan’s ex-president Perez Musharraf to do more along the Pakistan border.   Both of these national security stances are now the predominant position.  Obama has worked on bi-partisan efforts to pass ethics reform, and legislation to help military veterans.  In the Illinois state legislature Obama worked on programs support income tax credits for middle class families, pushed for funding and programs for early education, and was chairman of the state’s Health and Human Services Committee.

Given this list of accomplishments, it’s hard to imagine what people could be so fearful about.  The president is not a legislative body, so he or she cannot pass laws on their own.  Even for many Acts the president may pronounce he or she will need a budget approved by Congress in order to fund the mandate.  So, Obama can’t ruin public policy.  Maybe he’ll make a mistake on the economy.  Well, there’s a whole series of advisory councils—national security, economic affairs are only a few—the  president has around him or her to help make decisions, not to mention a Vice President, special committees, commissions, and task forces.   So, he won’t be all alone answering the phone at 3am, and thus, can’t make a big decision in secret.  What’s the fear? Perhaps people are unaware of what President actually do.

The President of the United States is the leader of the government, which includes Commander in Chief of the military (but he or she cannot declare war).  Legally, to be president one must be a natural born citizen, at least 35 years old, and have lived in the U.S. for 14 years or more.  The President has the power to appoint whoever they’d like for Cabinet (leaders of government agencies) positions; although, these must be approved by the Senate.  The President has the power to convene congress: get them together for talks about the “state of the union.” The President has the power to make treaties with foreign nations.  And finally, the President can veto legislation passed by Congress, and pardon bad guys and girls.  While the President has many powers, they are checked and balanced by the powers of the other branches of government like congress and the Supreme Court, as well as advised by other officials whose job it is to be an expert consultant to the leader of the government.  Thus, Obama could not on his own ruin the U.S.

So, what is the fear?  What is the concern that many Americans have about Obama? Just like with cold swimming pools, public speaking, and scary movies, the fear with regard to Obama is uncertainty.  And just like in real life, once you get in a cold pool, witness a scary movie, and knock dead the public speech, you feel much better.  You feel better because you’ve discovered there was no fear, other than fear itself.  In thought, Obama is like a new brand of car being compared against another brand with a longer history.  While shiny and new, there’s not much history to judge which makes the purchasing decision favor the old reliable brand.  But in practice, Obama is the kind of leader that many people actually may prefer. He listens, admits his mistakes, loves his family, prefers consensus over conflict, promotes equality over favoritism, and most telling gives credit to everyone around him first, and to himself last. 

As we move forward toward November 4th, the electorate should be mindful of the unrealistic fears that can pervade the mind when we forget who we are.  The emotions tied to leadership are justified on the grounds that we all want to have a positive world around us; however, they are not useful when tied to fears about an individual taking over the largest, richest, and most scrutinized government on the planet.  Knowledge is power and I hope this helps move mountains.