An Evangelical for Obama: Character
With election day just around the corner, it’s time to bring to a close this series of posts on how I, as an Evangelical Christian, can support Barack Obama for president. It has been interesting to write these, as they have forced me to articulate my own positions on various issues.
But it is not just my own writing that has influenced my opinion of Obama. When I first became interested in the Obama campaign I decided to check out and read The Audacity of Hope, on the assumption that the ideas in his book would tell me something about him. Rather than detail Obama’s writing myself, let me quote from The New Yorker‘s endorsement of Obama:
Nowadays, almost every politician who thinks about running for President arranges to become an author. Obama’s books are different: he wrote them. “The Audacity of Hope” (2006) is a set of policy disquisitions loosely structured around an account of his freshman year in the United States Senate. Though a campaign manifesto of sorts, it is superior to that genre’s usual blowsy pastiche of ghostwritten speeches. But it is Obama’s first book, “Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance” (1995), that offers an unprecedented glimpse into the mind and heart of a potential President. Obama began writing it in his early thirties, before he was a candidate for anything. Not since Theodore Roosevelt has an American politician this close to the pinnacle of power produced such a sustained, highly personal work of literary merit before being definitively swept up by the tides of political ambition.
A Presidential election is not the awarding of a Pulitzer Prize: we elect a politician and, we hope, a statesman, not an author. But Obama’s first book is valuable in the way that it reveals his fundamental attitudes of mind and spirit. “Dreams from My Father” is an illuminating memoir not only in the substance of Obama’s own peculiarly American story but also in the qualities he brings to the telling: a formidable intelligence, emotional empathy, self-reflection, balance, and a remarkable ability to see life and the world through the eyes of people very different from himself.
On Obama’s Character
The New Yorker‘s endorsement has identified one of the biggest reasons why I find myself supporting Obama: his character. This is not to say that all my other posts have been irrelevant; policies, voting records, and party affiliation are obviously important and essential parts of the election decision. Yet their is a great deal to be said for character. When you can trust someone’s character—his integrity, honesty, wisdom, and self-control—then you know that even if you disagree on policies, you can follow his leadership.
Obama has aptly proven his character on all counts. He is, of course, not perfect. Yet he is extraordinarily capable of understanding the world from multiple viewpoints. He embraces what is best in Conservatism as well as in Liberalism. He speaks intelligently to people of any race, gender, or age. He commands respect when he addresses people, without intimidating them. In short, he has all of the qualities of leadership combined in an unusually well balanced mix.
Perhaps this is why so many endorsements, especially from traditionally conservative establishments, speak highly of Obama. The Chicago Tribune writes:
Obama is deeply grounded in the best aspirations of this country, and we need to return to those aspirations. He has had the character and the will to achieve great things despite the obstacles that he faced as an unprivileged black man in the U.S.
He has risen with his honor, grace and civility intact. He has the intelligence to understand the grave economic and national security risks that face us, to listen to good advice and make careful decisions.
And The Washington Post speaks of Obama as “a man of supple intelligence, with a nuanced grasp of complex issues and evident skill at conciliation and consensus-building,” writing:
Mr. Obama’s temperament is unlike anything we’ve seen on the national stage in many years. He is deliberate but not indecisive; eloquent but a master of substance and detail; preternaturally confident but eager to hear opposing points of view. He has inspired millions of voters of diverse ages and races, no small thing in our often divided and cynical country.
Americans are seeking leadership during this election just as much as they are seeking change. They are looking for a President who understands democracy, listens to their voice, and consults other leaders. Obama is an exceptional candidate when it comes to leadership and character.
Messiah Complex?
In the midst of this talk about character, there has been a large amount of hullabaloo about the Democratic party and their “messiah.” These fears and concerns about Obama’s “complex” are seriously exaggerated. While liberal commentators and bloggers have probably done themselves a disservice by waxing rhapsodic over Obama, this has never been the position of the campaign nor the candidate. There are two things two remember here.
First, the Obama campaign has not been the last, best hope of all Democrats this whole time. If you remember, the Democratic party was what really fired up this election season so early. Not by any naïve hope about Obama, but by a prolonged and, at times, bitter struggle between Obama and Hillary Clinton. Half of the Democratic party only came behind Obama after considerable debate and numerous elections. Isn’t this what democracy is all about? Obama has earned the support of the Democratic party.
Second, the charge of a “messiah complex” about Obama blatantly ignores the reality of his campaign. The Obama campaign is not grounded on Obama, the campaign grounded on the American voter. The campaign speaks of “we,” “us,” and “America” in ways that extend far beyond the candidate himself:
“I’m asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington … I’m asking you to believe in yours.”
And it’s not just the rhetoric that demonstrates this. One of the lessons politics will learn from the Obama campaign is the power of grassroots organizing and fundraising. Millions of Americans have become excited about the political process and are fully taking part in it now. Isn’t this what democracy is all about? Obama’s campaign is about “we” not “I.”
On John McCain
It is important to remember, of course, that there are two candidates running here. One of the very hopeful things about this election is that both men are honorable and able to be President. John McCain, whatever liberal ideologues want to say about him, has been a superb politician in the past. He also deserves our respect for his military service. McCain is, as his campaign describes him, a true American hero.
Yet their is more than one aspect to leadership, and McCain has fallen woefully short on many of them during this campaign. His temper is one of the largest of these problems. He has often been known to lash out at reporters, and even his own wife, in public. While being feisty is often a good thing, especially in an organization like Congress, it may be a much less beneficial quality in a president.
There is also the choice of Sarah Palin for Vice-President. Plenty enough has been said, by Republicans and Democrats alike, that I’ll leave it up to the Economist to summarize:
The choice of Sarah Palin epitomised the sloppiness. It is not just that she is an unconvincing stand-in, nor even that she seems to have been chosen partly for her views on divisive social issues, notably abortion. Mr McCain made his most important appointment having met her just twice.
This election season has seen John McCain track all over the board in an attempt to gain the upper hand. There was the bizarre suspension of his campaign, the attempt to postpone the first debate, the lack of exposure of Palin to the media, the negative advertising (which, disappointingly, Obama has been guilty of too), and the unfounded terrorist and socialist accusations.
The John McCain evidenced by this election cycle has come up short on almost every area of leadership, especially when compared to Barack Obama. This does not mean he would make a bad President, but it does mean that when the country is looking for leadership, McCain might not be the best choice.
In Conclusion
America finds itself now, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, in a position it has not experienced in many decades. While still the premier military power in the world, our forces are stretched thin across two wars and it is becoming increasingly obvious that America can’t control the world simply by flexing military muscle. The recent economic crisis has shaken the system to its very core and greatly diminished faith in the U.S. China and India are rising rapidly in the economic realm and are threatening to soon pass America. Similarly, in education, science, and technology these and other countries are rapidly passing the U.S.
It is into this world, a world in which the U.S. may remain the preeminent power, but will not always be a superpower, that the next President must lead us. This will take intelligence, foresight, inspiration, and the ability to understand the world. Barack Obama contains each of these, and many more good qualities. He is part of a new generation of Americans, who realizes that America must both look to the world and safeguard that which makes her unique. Obama is the man to lead us as the next President.
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