When Obama was in Cincinnati, during the 2008 presidential campaign, my wife and I went to see him. My wife was in the early stages of her illness, and could still walk, albeit getting tired easily, and she wanted to see him so much. My first time in the United States earlier that year, when I met her for the first time, the two favorite things I got were a New York Yankees ball cap (sorry, Barack), and "The Audacity of Hope". I fell in love with his ideas after I "met" him through his words, as I read it back in Portugal, before I moved here. So hell yeah, let's go, I said. And we were there for him, along with thousands of people. When he walked on stage, black suit and black dress shoes, white shirt and tie, I could feel the crowd swell with joy. It was pure joy. We were 48 hours away from election day. And the rest is History.
I have been thinking about this piece for a while. It's only fair to reiterate that this is my opinion, based on nothing but my gut feeling. So, as usual, please walk with me, and search your heart.
The idea that Obama could have done more, could have reached farther, dare to go for the end zone. I mean, you see a wide receiver loose, the ball spinning towards him... You just know he's going for it. So what stopped him?
It was his first term, sure, but he had both the House and Senate, at first. And after 2011, even if things got harder, and Mitch made his life almost impossible and the recourse to the executive pen inevitable, there was that SCOTUS appointment, that to this day many claim he should have gotten done during recess, even if some scholars disagree due to post nomination obstacles the Senate would surely undertake, but still.
And the Affordable Care Act that even if amazing, compared to what existed before it became law, was nothing but a handout to the healthcare insurance companies with some added benefits to the public but no public option (thanks, Lieberman). Still, as Dark Brandon would say, it was a big fucking deal. But so much more could have been achieved! The DACA executive order, and the failure of the DREAM Act. Always short. Always going for the side line. The end zone was right there! Right there! Why?
In my mind, even considering all the obstacles that come with governing in a Democracy, aggravated by the safe plays of a first term meant to be continued and the obstructionism so painfully obvious in the second term, there are two reasons for this. Barack Obama is an extremely intelligent man, and he knew then what Congress was about, and what the presidency was about. He was also very much aware of the dichotomy his administration faced from the get go: to embrace being the first African-American president of the United States, and to balance that historical achievement with the foreseeable backlash from the reactionary segments of society.
I believe that Obama's actions were always guided by this knowledge and the fact they were so careful, played with such extreme consideration for the results they could have, not in the lives of Americans, but in the way Americans perceived those actions. Not because the actions themselves were astounding or unheard of, but because the man advocating for them was... well, a black man.
Obama is fearless. He was well aware of the risk he was putting himself in, but he was also aware of the risks to his family. I also believe Michelle was aware of those risks and willing to take them for the good of us all. But that was not it. Obama would never hesitate, or flinch, because it was too dangerous to take action. No. In my mind, it was the concern for what would have happened if a black man, in the White House, dared to act as any president had before him.
The two eminent risks of a run of the mill, totally normal presidency, except for the fact the president was a black man: assassination or extreme civil unrest, tantamount to a civil war, in our days. The first he was wiling to take. But not the second.
And so the painfully long eight years, or short depending how you look at them, went by with two major goals: to achieve all that was possible under the premises I laid out above, and to lay the groundwork for the next president. No doubt, a Democrat. Yes, well... It was a good plan.
The extreme consequences of a president hated by millions for the mere color of his skin would be avoided and the torch would pass on to the next, who would finish the job.
I don't think Obama believed for a moment, except maybe in the final days of the 2016 campaign, that Hillary would not make it. But as I learned after election day that November, misogyny is alive and well in America. Just as much as racism is. Just as much as homophobia is. Such is the America we live in. Such are the fights we have to fight defined. And such is the measure of our challenge.
Obama did his best, where many others would have failed miserably. He was a champion for the underprivileged, the sick, the children, the forgotten ones, and in doing so, a champion for every day Americans.
Did big money play a role in all this? Yes. Is he guilty of overprotecting some special interests? Yes. Was he playing Wall Street's game? Yes.
So did every president before him and will every one after him. He played by the rules WE allow. The rules WE agree on. The rules we must CHANGE. And considering all this, he did just fine. Hell, he did a lot more than just fine.
And he has shown us all what a United States president should be like. And by God, I miss him. We started something we must finish, we the people did it when we elected him. And when we failed to elect his successor we failed much more than him. We failed ourselves.
Well, not anymore.
We are finishing this. Now.
[finis]
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