8:20am Saturday 15th November 2008
Barack Obama supporter Oli de Botton, a local Labour parliamentary candidate, tells of his experience of the US election campaign
AS a Brit working for Barack, I learned a lot of lessons about what needs to change about our politics Being young and political there was really nothing else to do with my annual leave other than spend it campaigning for Obama.
As it turns out the experience was both genuinely moving and instructive about what we need to do to improve politics over here.
I worked in the swing state of Pennsylvania, which Obama eventually won by 11 per cent but where John McCain focused most of his attention during the last weeks of the campaign.
And yet Obama’s success there and across the country had very little to do with the political tussling of the lead players – it had more to do with the inclusive and popular nature of this remarkable campaign.
I was based in the Philadelphia Campaign for Change office which was constantly buzzing.
People from across the state and country piled in by the bus load. Republicans, Democrats, independents, whites, blacks, Hispanics, rich and poor. And the whole machine was run meticulously by a two-time Bush supporter.
What was most striking was the number of people who came to help who have never done politics before.
One volunteer said that she was going to vote for the first time this year and just felt she needed to get involved. For those of us who believe that politics’ prerogative is to excite and unite people, regardless of party affiliation, this was the promised land.
But you might think that help from across the Atlantic was not wanted.
Surely us Europeans are more interested in prevarication than keeping America on top?
This is not what I experienced and the old dichotomies just didn’t add up this time. Political and non-political people were showing remarkable generosity; everyone was welcomed with open arms and volunteers were housed and feed for free.
The family I stayed with made sure to put a radio in my room tuned to the BBC world service to make me feel at home.
Enthusiasm among the general public was overwhelming at times. I sat on visibility desks for hours as we shifted countless badges, posters and garden stakes.
Obama iconography adorned buildings. I was even lucky enough to attend an Obama rally where more than 10,000 people waited in the pouring rain for over five hours to hear him speak.
The organisation of the campaign made a modern military conflict look cumbersome.
On the day before the election we witnessed one of the largest mass mobilisations in the history of the democratic world as Obama volunteers knocked on 1.2million doors in Pennsylvania alone.
Every identified Obama supporter in the country received a personalised mock-up polling card.
The awesome power of the ground game must have been hard to swallow for even the most entrenched of hacks who think you can’t get people involved in politics.
The euphoria after the result resembled the spirit of the campaign too.
After the result was called thousands of people descended on the centre of town and the obligatory collective high fives were passed around liberally.
In the streets cars came from around the city, blocking roads and hooting their horns.
Even taxi drivers were honking in joy rather than frustration at the traffic.
The scene resembled a capital city immediately after a military coup.
You half expected to see gun shots fired into the air.
The bars were thronging. In this one down at Heal Place filled with white men, there was genuine excitement.
Even the mandatory cynical old man at the bar conceded that this was a historic night.
In another bar people were jumping around.
A group of African Americans came up to us and said this was not a night just for them but for everyone in America and everyone around the world. They thanked us for our work.
The acceptance and concession speeches were listened to intently.
People from outside rushed in. There was reverent silence for McCain and some genuine admiration. People felt he was gracious.
The main man did not disappoint either and most people had tears in their eyes.
Those of us from across the pond couldn’t quite believe that there was this much excitement after a mere politician got elected.
So what do we take from all of this?
We could be cynical and say that this sort of excitement couldn’t be generated over here or that Obama won by the same margin as Clinton.
But I think it would be better if we looked at the way a whole generation of voters has just become engaged in politics.
It would be better if we tried to replicate the way Obama comported himself, showing respect for his opponents, avoiding personal attacks and preaching unity.
But most of it would be better if we reflected on the fact that this campaign was about the relationships forged between people from different backgrounds.
By contrast our politics is often about what the state should and shouldn’t do for and to people.
Politics is at its best when it focuses on people not structures and that is what all parties should sign up to doing – otherwise we may turn another generation off getting involved.
© Copyright 2001-2010 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.stalbansreview.co.uk