The Politics of Hope

The Politics of Hope

Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama’s promise to bring us together – blue states and red, young and old, women and men, blacks and whites – has come under fire from those who would like things to remain as they are. Critics and rivals alike have described his vision as a naïve pipe dream that would be dead on arrival if he were elected president.

Obama’s message, as one critic put it, “goes against the natural condition of politics. “I’m right, you’re wrong” battles are fundamental to the republic.
From the beginning of our history, U.S. politics has thrived on the routine policy of division and the adversarial party system.

However, several passages in Senator Obama’s memoir, “The Audacity of Hope,” suggest that America was founded on core ideals of hope and the pursuit of happiness. He recalls teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago and always going back to “the founding documents – the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers and the Constitution,” which provide “the record of the founders’ intentions” and “the core ideals that motivated their work.”

Let the argument about the viability and practicality of Obama's major message go forward. But as it does, even his critics need to acknowledge that he is not a weird historical aberration. His message has roots in our deepest political traditions. Indeed, it is in accord with the most heartfelt and cherished version of our original intentions as a people and a nation.

I find it refreshing that at least one candidate for the presidency of the United States is reaching out to all Americans to return to hope and for continued greatness of this great country.