“I had learned not to care; I blew a few smoke rings, remembering those years. Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though.”
—Barack Obama in Dreams of My Father (1995)
U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama wouldn’t just be the first black man to hold the nation’s highest office, he would also be the first to be born in the 1960s. Obama was eight when Neil Armstrong walked on the surface of the moon and celebrated his 14th birthday only five days before Richard Nixon boarded Marine One, abandoning the White House and fleeing both the Watergate scandal and a failed effort in Vietnam.
Obama’s youth saw him steeped in the ultimate highs and one of the lowest lows America has endured. Being young during these events has allowed him to absorb them in a way no other candidate in the Democratic or Republican race did at the time (Hillary Rodham Clinton was 28 during the moon’s landing, and 34 when Nixon quit). A changing America has shaped his moral character, colouring his leadership strategies in a way that would be greatly beneficial to the United States at this time.
Obama talks straight with people. Not hiding his past indiscretions is an indication of how he will act if elected. George W. Bush refused to speak in clear terms about his use of cocaine and other illicit substances, his DWI arrest unearthed days before the 2000 election. Is it really that surprising that he would hide other facts too?
True, every politician has skeletons in their closet, and works hard to spin their image. Did you know Obama still enjoys a Marlboro after a stressful strategy meeting? He does. And while he avoids being photographed lighting up, he doesn’t try to bury the truth. A candidate’s candour, seen in the small details, is the blueprint to America’s future.
It’s also important to consider how the next president will be viewed from abroad. The newest commander- in-chief must repair America’s image abroad to rekindle the relations that have become strained or cut off completely. Only confronting enemies on the battlefield is the wrong approach—look how the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War were brought to a close. To engage in discussion with its old friends and current enemies, the U.S. needs a president that will indicate that the country’s approach to world affairs has fundamentally changed.
Hillary Rodham Clinton cannot be that person. Her last name alone would make the last 25 years look like an alternating dynasty (Bush- Clinton-Bush-Clinton). The reason for the checks and balances within a two-term limit is to ensure that no single group (or in this case, two families) are to be perceived as controlling the United States. Barack Obama would look like a fresh start in every way. A black man who’s not afraid to tell the truth is pretty much as far away as you can get from George W. Bush. He also has the benefit of not being a long-term, hardcore politico who has already divided Washington into hard-and-fast camps of friends and enemies (as Hillary Rodham Clinton has). Compared to the rest of the candidates, Obama is as close to a blank slate as we’re going to get this time around.
Many critics like to pounce on Obama for his lack of foreign policy experience, citing it as a reason to bar him from the top job. But look who’s in the White House right now! In 1999, George W. Bush couldn’t name the president of Pakistan. And just as important as being wellversed in international policy is the ability for a leader to think internationally. A modern politician can’t be effective if their scope is nationally selfish. Who better to think in this way than a man whose grandmother still lives on a farm in Kenya, a man who is the product of two Americas and, indeed, two races?
It’s a campaign buzzword that’s now on the top of every candidate’s talking points, but I do believe that Obama is the candidate that would implement the most and best change for America. And a change in course is exactly what the nation now needs to remain the greatest country on earth.
Plus, the dude knew smack was wack.
