The Good Obama

The U.S. president is pulling out all the stops for the remainder of his presidency. His aim is to attract more Democratic voters in order to ensure the White House stays Democratic in the future.

After six and a half years of Obama in the White House, the U.S. is finally experiencing the “good Obama” that many of those who voted for him had hoped for. Progress isn’t all-inclusive, but it’s real, and it clearly shows that people shouldn’t constantly complain about the lack of alternatives to big money and the prevalence of corrupt government.

Relations with Cuba are being normalized, the latest nuclear agreement with Iran to avoid another war has been made, even if it still awaits approval by the U.S. Congress. Plus, Obama has introduced a relatively aggressive environmental protection plan. He is talking quite openly and plainly about racism in American society, seeks to make additional reforms to the justice system, and is asking for increased commitment from the members of his party. The new Obama is late in coming, and he arrives with partisan motives. The Democratic president is mobilizing his party’s base to help his presumptive successor, Hillary Clinton.

That makes sense as well because Democrats who belly-ache about Hillary Clinton over her support for the drone war, and the preference she seemingly grants to Wall Street and Silicon Valley, have rapidly led to the cynicism of inaction and delay. Meanwhile, the Republican candidates continue to stink up the countryside with their manure spreaders.

The good Obama has asked for participation and hope. Complaining isn’t enough, he said in early August at a White House gathering. His progressive friends probably didn’t enjoy being reminded that apathy and non-voters were partly to blame for Republicans being able to gain majorities in both the House and the Senate in 2014 — only one-third of all eligible voters voted in contrast to the 62 percent who elected Obama in 2008. The White House gathering was in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the voting rights law. That historic reform in former slave-holding states outlawed discrimination against black voters and ushered in true democracy.

The often-pessimism-prone U.S. progressives — or whatever title they have used to describe themselves in their solidarity-promoting activities — occasionally need to be reminded of their own successes. Fifty years ago, white sheriffs and their deputies publicly beat civil rights activists, and terror groups lynched them for supporting the right to vote. The voting rights law was finally signed on Aug. 6, 1965 by the Democratic president, Lyndon B. Johnson, who in a spectacle of contradictions a few months later escalated the war in Vietnam.

Obama was recently asked on National Public Radio whether he avoided addressing the race issue during his first term because of “political considerations.” He denied that but admitted that in his second term, he felt “a great urgency to get as much done as possible” before leaving office, and that he had also learned to “juggle a lot of different issues.” It’s entirely possible that his heart’s desires had become more prominent. Obama sang “Amazing Grace” at the memorial service for nine victims of the racially motivated church shooting in South Carolina. It is a gospel song about incredible grace that promises forgiveness to every sinner. Barack Obama expanded that religious belief to apply also to their political hopes — that the nation and people can change for the better despite all the burdens of past history. It was one of the most important speeches of his tenure.

It’s certainly not just about the president’s personal feelings. When dealing with incendiary social issues, Obama has the support of Black Lives Matter. These activists have dealt with the topics of racism, repression and white privilege in the same way as Occupy Wall Street deals with social inequality and greed. But concrete results take time; the struggle for the historic voting rights law lasted for decades.

In foreign policy, Obama shows a considerable new realism with politics and the media. Speaking to journalists about the Iran nuclear agreement, he made it known that his goal was “less about Iran than about getting America off its war track.” He then added, “In terms of decisions I make, I do think that I have a better sense of how military action can result in unintended consequences.” He then continued, saying, “So maybe at the same time as I’m more confident today, I’m also more humble,” finishing with “and that’s part of the reason why, when I see a situation like this one, where we can achieve an objective with a unified world behind us — and we preserve our hedge against it not working out — I think it would be foolish, even tragic, for us to pass up on that opportunity.”

Donald Trump and Co. run a public relations operation: talk loudly, exploit resentments, spend a lot of money, and pretend to care about people, playing the little guy’s friend — in the Republicans’ case, the little white guy’s friend. The future, on the other hand, belongs to Barack Obama, especially the good Obama and the coalition that won him the White House in 2008 and 2012: ethnic minorities, young people, women and progressive whites. If the Democrats truly mobilize their people, the Republicans don’t stand a chance. The Republican primaries won’t even merit any thought.