What Happened?
The Democrats said things would be different this time around. They said that this time they would carry Florida and Ohio, and every other state from Massachusetts to California and back again. But despite all the posturing, the creative campaign slogans, the talk and the swagger, John Kerry and the Democrats lost the election; they lost badly.
In the 2004 presidential election Florida and Ohio both went Republican. Clear across the country, every state from Virginia to Nevada went Republican. From North Dakota down to Texas, every state went Republican. So the question that political pundits and ordinary citizens alike will be brooding over for the next four years is: Where did the Democratic Party go wrong, and how can it be fixed?
Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
The main problem plaguing the Democrats is that they do not currently have a leader: someone who can unite the party and give it a distinct, clear and loud voice. While Al Gore and Kerry are highly intelligent men and adept politicians, they are not leaders. To be a leader in America, it is necessary to follow the advice of our seventh president, Andrew Jackson. Jackson was a firm believer in the cult of mediocrity in America. Americans, Jackson believed, were not interested in pretentiousness, opulent wealth and pomp and circumstance. Jackson, a wealthy Southern landowner and a lawyer, recognized this and altered his image into that of an average Joe, a man who could connect with the people.
George Bush is a successful leader because he is able to portray the image of being an ordinary American. He lives and works on a ranch in Crawford, Texas. He is religious and invokes his religion to answer questions of morality. He is married to an ordinary American woman. His speech is colloquial to Texas, as are his mannerisms. Despite the fact that Bush is the son of a president, from one of the richest, most influential families in America, a member of the New England elite, Ivy-League educated and probably has no idea about the problems of the middle class, he is able to come across as an average Joe.
Enter Obama
In the next four years, the Democrats have the opportunity to revamp their image, reconnect with Americans and take back the White House. Their leader in this crusade should be Barak Obama, the newly elected senator from Illinois.
Born to a white mother and a black father, Obama's appeal transcends racial divides. His father is an African immigrant and his mother is from Kansas. He grew up in Hawaii and received an Ivy-League education. He began his political career as an Illinois state senator representing a poor section of Chicago. He is now the senator of the entire state of Illinois. He is one of the only Democratic senators in the state's history to carry the vote of Illinois' southern, historically Republican counties.
What makes Obama so exciting is the clarity of his speech and his ability to connect with everyone he meets. He is as comfortable with the farmers of Southern Illinois as he is with the high society of Chicago. Also, Obama is a religious man. In his victory speech on Tuesday night, one of the first people he thanked was his pastor.
The Democrats need a leader who understands the importance of religion in the daily life of ordinary Americans. They need a leader who can connect with urban voters as well as rural voters. They need a leader who is charismatic and a good speaker, with a solid American upbringing. Most of all, they need a leader who can guarantee them to win states in the Midwest and the South.
Barak Obama is all those things. If chosen, he can hoist the Democratic Party on his shoulders and lead it to a sweeping victory across all of America.
Martin Rahmani is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences.
