Obama makes history, again
November 7, 2012 -- Updated 1230 GMT (2030 HKT)
President Barack Obama made history again by becoming the first black president to win re-election.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- In the midst of national splintering, voters returned a black man to the White House
- Sociologists say this is affirmation that Obama's ideas mattered more than his identity
- He will have a chance now to leave a legacy beyond being the first black president
- He will take a stronger stance on race issues in his second term, some say
Four years ago, it was a first, the breaking of a racial barrier. Tuesday night, it was history redux.
And more.
In the midst of national
splintering and a time of deep ideological animosity, Americans elected
President Barack Obama to a second term. And thousands rejoiced in his
victory, one that seemed sweeter and, perhaps, more significant.
"This is affirmation that his color doesn't matter and that his message resonated with people," said Yale University sociologist Jeffrey Alexander, author of "Obama's Victory and the Democratic Struggle for Power."
"It is very important in that it will indicate that an African-American can be viewed for what he says and not what he is."
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Had Obama lost the
election, he would likely have been remembered in history as the first
black president, and maybe little else, Alexander said.
Now, he has a chance to create a legacy rooted not in his identity, but in his ideas.
"If this country wants President Obama to have another term, I'm ready to say that it's a significant moment," he said.
As an African-American, Lee understood the power of 2008. But his excitement was measured.
He knew the nation was
tired then of two costly wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, a sinking economy
and an administration that he felt excluded ordinary people. He thought
Arizona Sen. John McCain was a weak candidate and that the cards were
stacked in Obama's favor. Four years later, Obama traversed a much
tougher road, Lee said.
Americans had a strong
alternative in the Republican challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt
Romney. The nation, he felt, was no longer in a desperate state and
voters had more of a choice. Despite that, they elected a black man.
Again.
"They sent a message to the world that whatever racist proclivities might exist are not enough to preclude Obama from winning," Lee said.
"We cannot deny that this is new social space we occupy in this country."
A changing America, Lee
believes, will be very much a part of Obama's national conversation in a
second term. That includes a stronger stance on race relations, an
issue some believe Obama had to distance himself from in his first term
for political expediency. For that, he drew criticism from
African-Americans with high expectations of a black president.
"Can you imagine knowing
you're the first black president and you have to win the Midwest to win
a second term?" he said. "It's such a thin thread that holds together
his ability to win as a black candidate.
"The constraints are not going to be there in his second term. He's going to have much more swagger."
In playwright and New York radio show host Esther Armah's
estimation, Obama's re-election feels more historic than his first
because of what she views as a tide of callousness toward people of
color.
She criticized measures
like the new voter ID laws in several states, which she said obstruct
participation and "desecrated" American democracy. She said re-electing
Obama represented a denunciation of those measures and the Republican
presidential candidate who supported them.
"It's really important
to recognize that this was not just a choice to put someone back into
the White House," Armah said, "but a choice to reject a man who
demonstrated callousness."
"I have exhaled. I am breathing," she said.
Obama's victory, said
CNN contributor Van Jones, was possible because of the support of a
coalition of people who reflect America's demographics.
"Nobody believed four
years ago that you could have black folks and lesbians and gays and
Latinos and young folk standing together to move the country forward,"
said Jones, a former special adviser to Obama.
But Obama was demonized,
he said, and turned into a cartoon character. African-Americans asked
if someone like Obama is not acceptable, then who is?
"There is vindication
here," Jones said. "This is a backlash against the backlash. You saw
African-Americans stepping up, Latinos stepping up, young people
stepping up ... saying we're better than we've been seeing on the
attacks on this president."
The challenge for Obama
in the next four years, however, will no longer be racial in nature,
Alexander said. It is certain to be ideological.
Obama won't ever have to run for office again, but he will have to make his case for policies, Alexander said.
"His goal has been to be
a post-polarization candidate, and he naively believed he could do that
as a president," he said. "He didn't want to be a highly partisan
figure. As a result, he couldn't control the political debate. He's
going to have to keep campaigning and not become a policy wonk."
Obama seemed to
recognize that in his victory speech early Wednesday in Chicago, the
city where he first fostered hopes and launched dreams.
He told the roaring
crowd, made up of that previously improbable coalition, that he planned
to sit down with Mitt Romney in the weeks ahead to chart a new course for the country.
"We believe in a
tolerant America, open to the dreams of an immigrant's daughter who
pledges to our flag, to the young boy on the south side of Chicago who
sees a life beyond the street corner, to the furniture worker's child in
North Carolina who wants to become a doctor or a diplomat or even a
president," Obama said.
"We will rise and fall
as one nation, and as one people. It doesn't matter if you are black or
white, young or old, rich or poor. You can make it in America, if you're
willing to try."
It was a reflection of his own journey, of a man who'd made it as a two-term black president.
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