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ANKARA: The American Promise 'Obama'

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  • ANKARA: The American Promise 'Obama'

    THE AMERICAN PROMISE 'OBAMA'
    By Mustafa Gokcek

    Today's Zaman
    Sept 3 2008
    Turkey

    It was set to be a historic speech long ago. The Democratic Party's
    nomination acceptance speech was scheduled to be on the 45th
    anniversary of Martin Luther King's famous "I have a dream" speech.

    When it became clear that Barack Obama would be chosen as the first
    black presidential nominee of a major party in American history, it was
    in the minds of many that Obama was King's dream coming true. However,
    rather than associating himself closely with King and the black rights
    movements, Obama rightly chose to appeal to all Americans and picked
    the overarching theme of his speech as "the American promise."

    The four-day Democratic National Convention was organized
    as a festival, much like a concert, as well as a political
    event. Performances by famous singers, old and new, and speeches by
    established Democratic leaders, including Ted Kennedy, the Clintons,
    Al Gore and the Kings were accompanied by testimonies from people
    on the street. Each speaker made sure to emphasize Democratic unity,
    show strong support for and confidence in Obama and harshly attack the
    Bush administration and McCain. Obama took the stage on the last day
    as the last speaker, and his speech was as inspiring and as powerful
    as any other Obama speech. Despite the live coverage on 10 commercial
    networks reaching over 40 million viewers, almost 85,000 people
    gathered in Mile High Stadium (all these numbers setting records in
    US political history) as proof of their eagerness to support Obama,
    and many among them burst into tears of joy and excitement as they
    witnessed this momentous event.

    The enthusiasm of Democratic voters and their appeal to the larger
    public reached its peak.

    The convention aimed to accomplish several goals. One of the primary
    goals was to unite the Democratic Party, which was torn apart during
    the long nomination contest between Hillary Clinton and Obama. Just
    as the Clintons fought hard and long against Obama, now it was their
    duty to put the house in order. More influential than Hillary Clinton's
    acclamation was Bill Clinton's excellently laid out declaration that
    "Obama is ready to lead!" These speeches ended any remaining doubts
    about the Democratic Party's unity behind Obama. The convention did
    end the clash between Obama and Clinton, not only officially, but in
    reality as well.

    Attacking and discrediting McCain was another goal throughout the
    convention. The main and common point of criticism directed at McCain
    was that his presidency would be "more of the same." He was equated
    with Bush in every way possible and his presidency with the third
    term of George W. Bush. Considering the low popularity of the Bush
    administration it was an effective approach in attacking McCain. The
    newly chosen vice presidential nominee Joseph Biden mentioned McCain's
    wrong foreign policy choices, such as his support for the war in Iraq,
    and repeated relentlessly, "McCain was wrong, Obama was right." Obama,
    giving in to the criticism that he was not harsh enough on his opponent
    and compromising his pledge not to lead a negative campaign, bashed
    McCain openly, clearly and severely. He sarcastically exposed McCain's
    disconnectedness from the ordinary citizen, brought up the fact
    that McCain voted with Bush 90 percent of the time and successfully
    connected it to his motto of change: "I don't know about you, but I
    am not ready to take a 10 percent chance on change."

    Another major goal that dominated the convention program was the
    appeal to non-Democrats. In order to accomplish this goal the Democrats
    invited ordinary people to speak at the convention, who brought up the
    difficulties they faced in their daily lives and how they believed
    Obama to be their hope for change toward a better future. These
    real life stories touched on the shortcomings of the health insurance
    system, jobs moving overseas and increasing unemployment, difficulty in
    finding scholarships and loans for education and the lack of government
    support for the needy. Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower's
    daughter made a speech titled "Not as a Democrat or Republican, but
    as an Independent," and stressed the unity of the American people,
    behind Obama, of course. More important than the others were several
    converts from the Republican line to the Democratic who made a strong
    case of why a Republican, too, can support Obama.

    >>From the very beginning of the campaign Obama consistently endeavored
    to go beyond the party lines and reach out to the independents and
    Republicans that are neither pleased with the current administration
    nor hopeful of a McCain leadership. Obama rightly learned from
    historical experience where crossing party lines increased the
    chances of winning and brought long-lasting strength to the party
    and the president. "Reagan Democrats" and Clinton's concept of
    "new Democrat" with a Republican flavor refer to the efforts by the
    former nominees to find and emphasize common ground between the two
    party policies and appeal to the followers of the rival party. Obama,
    modeling his speech on Reagan's 1980 and especially Bill Clinton's
    1992 acceptance speeches, made sure to focus his criticism on McCain's
    personal approach rather than despising long-time Republicans. This
    is one reason why, despite his several references to King's speech,
    the central theme of Obama's speech was not one on King's dream
    coming true, but a phrase that emphasized Obama's attempt to unite
    all Americans: the American promise.

    Obama and Turkey

    The US presidential race is reflected in the Turkish media almost
    solely on the basis of the candidates' views on the Armenian
    allegations. Turkey's perspective of the US and the presidential
    elections should not be hijacked by the Armenian issue. Regardless of
    whom the president of the US is or will be, the Armenian question and
    its influence on US-Turkey relations is an issue that Turkey has had to
    deal with over a long period of time and at various levels, including
    political, historical, social and cultural. Thus, independent of the
    presidential elections or the US government's closeness to Turkey,
    Turkey has to develop a long-term strategy to first contain and then
    remove the effects of Armenian allegations involving Turkey in the
    international arena. Furthermore, US-Turkey relations are based on
    stronger pillars of mutual interest that from both Turkish and US
    perspectives should reduce the centrality of the Armenian issue in the
    perception and evaluation of each other. Therefore, when evaluating
    the US presidential elections, the Turkish perspective should be more
    concerned with the role of the US in international politics in an
    increasingly multi-polar world, the US involvement in the Middle East
    and the economic stability in the US rather than what each candidate
    says on the Armenian issue.

    Republican campaigns to discredit Obama with false accusations have
    influenced the Turkish public as well. One question should be made
    clear: While Obama's father is a Muslim from Kenya, Obama himself is
    not a Muslim. He was raised Christian and has expressed his faith quite
    explicitly on numerous occasions. However, there is no indication to
    support the speculation that he will discriminate against Muslims or
    foreigners living in the US. Quite the contrary, historically, the
    Republicans have been more hawkish in foreign policy, especially as a
    result of their intimate relations with the big arms and oil companies.

    In 1961, at the end of his tenure as president, Eisenhower addressed
    the American nation and warned them of a possible future threat to
    the freedoms in the US: "In the councils of government, we must guard
    against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or
    unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the
    disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. Only
    an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing
    of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our
    peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper
    together." Eisenhower's historic Farewell Address points out the
    ever increasing influence of the military-industrial complex on the
    American policy-making processes.

    The Republican idealism to "fight evil" and expand democracy, combined
    with support for big corporations including the arms industry have
    traditionally led to aggressive foreign policy moves. During the Cold
    War this worked better for Turkey, which gained higher strategic
    significance against the Soviet Union. However, as the perception
    of threat moved away from communism and focused more on the Middle
    East, an aggressive US foreign policy has proven to create serious
    complexities for Turkey.

    The direct implication of Obama's stance in foreign policy is what
    he defended from very early on: pull out of Iraq and refocus on
    Afghanistan. In an attempt to avoid criticisms that a quick withdrawal
    might cause the collapse of the Iraqi government and embarrass the
    US, he added the word "responsibly" and assured his audience that he
    would do whatever necessary for the security of the US. However the
    starting point and most significant aspect of his stance is still to
    put diplomacy first and not hesitate to talk with the enemy, something
    which the Bush administration has refused to do with Iran until very
    recently. In his acceptance speech, too, Obama made it clear that
    he will "renew tough and direct diplomacy with Iran and Russia" and
    "build new partnerships." This perspective is certainly more in line
    with the recent Turkish foreign policy initiatives, which indicate
    an active diplomatic involvement in regional issues.

    It is true that there is a chance Obama's actions might not follow
    his words. But when his alternative, McCain, promises a continued
    and expanded war in the Middle East, why can't we hope for the change
    Obama promises?
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