The election of Senator Barack Hussein Obama as the next American president, the first African-American to hold the position, is the kind of seismic political event that happens perhaps once in a lifetime, creating a special kind of "shock and awe". As Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, a pioneer of the civil rights movement and a victim of its opponents' brutality, described it: "We have witnessed tonight in America a revolution of values, a revolution of ideals. There's been a transformation of America, and it will have unbelievable influence on the world".
Now that the fact of Obama's victory has sunk in, and Barack Obama has turned from winning an election to forming a government, the country faces the prospect of a literary deluge. "Newsweek" and "Time" magazine both plan books on the election, as do several distinguished correspondents who covered the election campaign. Philip Fernando, formerly of Lake House and now living in Torrance, California, has left them all behind at the starting post. Advance copies of his book on Obama's election have already been distributed, and the book is ready for public release.
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This should not surprise anybody who is familiar with Fernando's career. He was among those recruited direct from university by Esmond Wickremesinghe to serve as the nucleus of the "next generation" of Lake House journalists. From the early years of his career, Fernando was persistent and prolific, moving easily between analysis and reporting. He covered Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike's campaigns, winning the confidence of the Prime Minister and her advisers. He has once again exerted the skills of a careful observer and chronicler to record Obama's rise from "upstart" candidate to president-elect of the world's remaining superpower.
In his book of 122 pages, Fernando chronicles the main issues that dominated the Democratic Party primaries, which pitted Obama against Senator Hillary Clinton, as well as the presidential election itself; outlines the key themes of this year's campaign that could have a long-term impact on American politics; and analyzes the arguments raised against Obama and his push back against them. In doing so, he catches something of the flavour of the back-and-forth of an exceptionally interesting and exceptionally significant election campaign. There will no doubt be other books that delve more deeply into specific aspects of the election. The virtues of "Feasting on Freedom" are its timeliness, its across-the-board look at the election as a whole, its brevity, and its journalistic style. It will be particularly helpful to readers outside the US who want a quick, yet full account of how American voters were persuaded to make history on November 4.
One of Obama's great advantages was his efficient and disciplined organization. The core of campaign leaders handpicked by Obama recruited armies of supporters and volunteer helpers across the country. "I have never seen a Democratic campaign more disciplined than this one," said Howard Dean, chair of the Democratic National Committee. Its characteristics included a lack of tensions among campaign leaders, which caused Obama to be described as "No-drama Obama". Another was that there were no leaks of information. ("Leaks" aggravate American politicians so much that when Millie, the Springer spaniel owned by George Bush snr. and Barbara Bush gave birth to a litter of puppies, the former president announced: "the puppies are sleeping on the 'Washington Post' and the 'New York Times'. It's the first time in history these papers have been used to prevent leaks.")
Despite the benefits of a well managed campaign, and the enthusiastic response of many segments of the population to Obama's appeal, there was a single major factor that could at some point have tipped the election against him. This was described by some commentators as the "800 pound gorilla seated quietly in a corner" – race. Fernando deals sensitively with this issue, in particular with the complex cultural relationship between the "black church" and the African-American community. It says much for the good sense of American voters that a strong majority rejected the race issue. Obama's winning coalition was, in fact, multi-ethnic, multi-hued, and multi-cultural.
Fernando is obviously moved by Obama's soaring eloquence and, for the convenience of his readers, has reproduced the president-elect's speech at the Democratic Party's convention where he was formally nominated as the party's candidate for president. Plato defined rhetoric as "winning the soul through discourse". Obama's rhetoric certainly was able to fire up America's "better angels". Fernando has successfully recorded the course and outcome of that process. |
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