Obama's Victory

Throughout the prolonged primary/presidential contest, Obama’s mantra was that he was going to “change politics.” That message inspired, so it seemed, thousands of new voters, especially young ones and African American ones. Watching Obama’s huge rallies, I was convinced that the political demographics had really changed. I expected a huge turnout on Nov. 4th, and for Obama to be carried to victory on a swell of young/black/new voters.

As it turns out, that’s not quite what happened. Turnout was significantly higher than in 2004, 64% to 55%, but among the young voter demographic turnout wasn’t markedly different than usual. I’ve read reports that even without the overwhelming youth and black vote, Obama would’ve won. What pushed him over the top was that almost no independents voted for McCain, with most of them saying that antipathy towards Palin was what sealed their decision.

That’s disappointing to me in a couple of ways. There was such enthusiasm among my friends and family that I was sure everyone in all parts of the country was feeling. I was sure that people would be drawn to Obama’s decency, intellect, and character and choose to vote for him as opposed to the old fuddy-duddy.

But what really happened was that people hated Palin so much that they decided to vote for Obama. That brings up the scary thought that, had McCain chosen someone else, he might have won. And that’s what disappoints me. To me, Obama had seemed so fresh, new, and perfect for the situation. I wanted the rest of America to believe that along with me. But it turns out that they didn’t, really.

What Obama really succeeded in doing, I guess, was to energize the Democratic base more than we’d been energized before and making sure key constituencies (blacks especially) got out there and voted. I’m not sure how much expanding he did, especially when you consider that he got less votes in Ohio than Kerry did in 2004, and he only won because 300,000 Republican voters who voted for Bush in 2004 stayed home for McCain in 2008. Was that because they just couldn’t quite bring themselves to vote for Obama, and thought that a non-vote for McCain was the same as a vote for Obama, or was it simply because they were uninspired and unorganized this year? Who knows.

Still, Obama’s victory is important because it shows us Democrats that there are a lot of people out there who think like we do, and that the important thing is organizing and building a community. I just hope that the next 4 years justify our faith in him.