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Barack Obama, I would like to congratulate you. You are the next President of the United States and our first black president. You have broken records and shattered barriers on the road to the White House. Your success, compared to the last eight years, is truly heartwarming. Before I ever had the chance to witness or read about them, others told me how inspiring and hopeful your landmark speeches were – whether in 2004 at the Democratic National Convention, your announcement of your bid for the Democratic nomination in 2007 or your speech on race in the middle of intense skepticism during your campaign. You and your party have made possible a record voter turnout, instigating millions to “vote for change” at a time when things appear at their worst for the United States. I voted for you, and I am happy for you and for my country – as are millions of Americans and millions of other people around the world.
However, this wild success came at a price. When you came to the national stage, you spoke with grand rhetoric of a new day in America. You spoke of hope and change. You railed against war, and corporate special interests. You spoke of people being involved in the political process again … as your rising star became a force to be reckoned with, you capitulated.
You backed off many of the policies that excited me and millions of America’s Progressives, Liberals and Democrats, and even many Conservatives and Independents, who had come to face facts about the destructive nature of the Bush administration. Sometimes it happened slowly, such as the transformation of your anti-war stance into a slightly-less-jingoist-than-the-other guys stance. Sometimes it happened quickly, such as your declaration of support for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or the reversal of your stance on offshore drilling. There are numerous examples where the details of many of your policies do not match the sweeping rhetoric from earlier in your campaign.
Yet my friends and fellow activists – most of them who are hard to the left and have been seething with anger these past eight years – still supported you. Of course there was always the skeptical ambivalence: “Well he’s not the perfect candidate by any means, but we can NOT have Sarah Palin in the White House. She is SCARY. McCain is bad enough without her. And of course, Obama is a really amicable guy, and some of his policies are pretty good …” I shared this sentiment with a number of people, but I was steadfast on voting for you. Until I saw the ballot, that is. Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney sat there, equal next to you and Sen. John McCain on the ballot but treated as inconsequential in public discourse.
I wavered. I wanted to vote for them and support them. Still, I stood by you and filled in the little arrow. This country – and the whole world – needs you, and I was not going to let the opportunity to “vote for change” slip by me. Politically, I feel powerful. Morally, I feel shallow.
You rallied millions of people – many of whom were progressive activists and who would not have even voted for Sen. Hillary Clinton – to “stand by you” and put you into the Oval Office. Even though you moved toward the center, we supported you in your historic, unprecedented bid for the White House. Please, don’t let us down. We have waited too long for this moment, and given up too much to see you surrender to the corporate agenda and the warmongers. We have voted for you, and so we have put our trust in you. Vindicate us. Don’t let us down.
Jeff Hake is a recent landscape horticulture graduate.
