THE IMPARTIAL OBSERVER
Matters of the Moment
Obama: The Audacity of Choice
Hank Eso
Thursday, 12 June 2008
“I have always thought that morality may perhaps consist
solely in the courage of making a choice”
~ Leon Blum
I skipped my weekly Sunday column, merely to allow –Obama besting Clinton-- to sink in. That was my choice.
Obama was still on my mind, four months after I wrote a piece of nearly the same title on this space. But the unthinkable has happened with audacity and alacrity. My last line on that piece, in hindsight, was almost prophetic. “History may also be on the side of those whose thinking on this subject may seem wishful.” Indeed, the wishful thinkers’ choice prevailed. It was a double whammy!
Politics and choosing leaders, like most things in life is about making choices – hard choices that is. This year’s presidential campaign has been no exception. Let’s cut to the chase.
Obama, against all odds is the putative nominee for the Democrats. Doing it his own way, and making choices about where to campaign, who to call, and whether or not to go dirty, or race bait, he beat a strong field of candidates and took out the last stalwart, Mrs. Hillary Clinton. Now, is the moment of truth; and time to make more difficult choices.
Can Obama win the presidency without Hillary Clinton’s personal support and that of he 18 million voters, mostly women and the white working class? And if his choice is to take her on as the VP, can he ever sleep in the White House with both eyes closed, knowing that she would be one heartbeat away from a position she so coveted, and may even feel entitled to. Again, choices to make!
Here is a recall of what I wrote four months ago, for those who may have missed it:
Again, the decisive moment has arrived to make a choice that America might not have the audacity and impetus to make.
An Obama-Clinton political marriage would be earthy and earthly, but certainly, not a choice the heavens can easily sanction. The practicality of it all seems prudent and feasible, but the morality of it, speaks to a different trend and notion, even though “morality may perhaps consist solely in the courage of making a choice”. If there were ever a difficult political marriage, this would be it, with or without a political pre-nuptial. So, why make such a choice? Pragmatism and expediency, that is why.
We are all witnesses to unprecedented history. The talking heads and pundits are having a field day, but for this pundit, what makes this entire situation unique, is not so much the elusive expectancy or shock and awe that those who lost feel, but that it-will-stay-with-me-for-life sense of where was one when it all happened and history was made.
Catholic and Christians would perhaps, understand this better. One of my favorite hymns, even if perennially melancholic, is “Were You There?” The song speaks to the redemption that came with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ; but more importantly, it identifies a cusp of time and asks those who were there to stand up.
Many great things happen in one’s lifetime. We are called to witness and recall where we were at those critical junctures, seminal and epochal moments. Also, what choices we made that critical juncture. Indeed, this week presented one such moment, with Barack Obama becoming the first African American minority to clinch the nomination of a major party. This singular development, also speaks to the changing face of America and its history, even if some still deem the accomplishment a fluke.
Furthermore, when next the enduring Negro spiritual, “We Shall Overcome” is sung, it will ring with vibrancy and ring true to the incremental accomplishment and long-held hope. But it took people making the choice to get out and register; the choice to vote and to stand up to be counted for all this to have happened. Even Oprah Winfrey who has almost everything had to make a choice, between a brother and a sister. Her choice caused some of her female fans to dub her a “traitor” for not supporting Hillary Clinton.
I disagreed with Obama’s choice of how to handle the Rev. Jeremiah Wright saga. I do, however, respect his decision; mindful that it is he alone that can make that call. I respect his accomplishments so far, and hope that he can go all the way to the White House. It will be good for America and the world. However, Americans and Americans alone must make the choice to put him there instead of John McCain.
I
will not burden Obama with advocating the choice he needs to make about his
running mate. It will be a hardheaded choice; but one that would be most
critical for his run for the presidency. I am glad that he was nominated, if
only because some of my friends and my spouse—those Hillary Billys - are now
eating crow about their failed choice. That is no longer important. What is
vitally important is that every critical decision and choice Obama has made so
far, will seem insignificant, to the one we expect of him now. To be or not to
be? That is the 18 million voters’ question! It is a hard choice.
Try as one might to keep and open mind, and even in the full realization, the Obama-Clinton ticket would be formidable and unbeatable, I shudder at the thought! Yet, the political animal in me and the realization that politics is the thorny bed inhabited by strange fellows, I suspect that political expediency will in the end trump sentimental objections.
The temptation persists to claim that those of us, who foresaw and rightly pronounced on Obama’s nomination victory, were perceptive. But in the historical realm, no force can stop or change an idea whose time has come, or a situation that is “ripe” to be actualized, especially if the people have made their choice. After all, democracy is about the freedom to choose. We face that reality. However, what we see now are bits of snippets that will in time present as the big picture. Before then, certain parts of the mosaic would need to be molded and fitted. Key amongst these, and even more uncertain, was as one pundit had tritely put it: “How Hillary Clinton would reconcile herself to defeat.” That has now happened, despite her futile choice to stay in the race well after victory had crossed to the other side of midnight for her and her supporters.
Yet, some think that the next big hump in this political race is the Obama-McCain challenge. But that may well be anticlimactic, since Obama would first have to pick his running mate; and McCain, too. But the recurring question is, how will Hillary play in Peoria, Illinois? That is the critical question. Will Obama’s choice for a VP tally with that of the American electorate? Still, another hard choice.
Nonetheless, the situation is what it is - unprecedented - nothing added, nothing taken. Not since 1998 has America seen such a distinct epochal political development. 1968 was, for its part, the year of great and grave political and social upheavals. 2008 could well be a reprise, albeit, more positive in many regards. It is already the year of political sea change in the cusp of time. 2008 is a leap year for making critical choices.
Regardless of who is eventually elected as the president in the fall, America will never be the same again, politically speaking. Although the voters would have made their choice, for years to come, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain will resonate, just like Woodstock, Jimi Hendrix, Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy and all those political icons that made 1968 the quintessential part of American political history that it is today. And this brings me back to what I said four months ago. “The American electorate will have to vote their conscience, each woman and man on their own.” On this matter, they have no other choice.
In the life of a person or a
nation, there comes that moment in time, that critical juncture that represents
the proverbial fork in the road that could mark the road not taken, when a
decision taken or not taken changes everything that follows. America has arrived
at that juncture. The world is watching attentively. Unfortunately, there is no
easy way out. This is the decisive moment for a great nation. There are no
adversaries out there –the only opponent and challenge is to make a defining
choice. Electing Obama will require the audacity of choice.
With neither anger nor partiality, until next time, keep the law, stay impartial, and observe closely.
-------
Hank Eso is a columnist for Kwenu.com. His commentaries on Nigerian politics and global issues have appeared in The New Times (Lagos), African Profile International (New York), The Nigerian And Africa Abroad, (New York), African Market News (New Jersey) and in Gamji.com and Nigeriavillagesquare.com
© Hank Eso, Wednesday 11 June 2008
Email: hankeso@aol.com