The US - Change and Not the Small Kind

Change was the chant taken up by many of his followers and by many others over the world. But was change what Mr Obama's followers really wanted? On the Daily Show, Jon Stewart tackled the public's poor response to Obama in government. During the segment he cut to a Q&A hosted by CNBC in which the President took town hall questions from Mrs Velma Hart, who voiced her discontent:

'I am deeply honored to finally be in this forum... I am a Chief Financial Officer for a veteran service organisation... I'm also a mother, I'm a wife, I'm an American veteran and I'm one of your middle-class Americans, and quite frankly I'm exhausted... I'm exhausted of defending the mantle of change that I voted for and deeply disappointed with where we are right now.

(Velma Hart, CNBC, 2010)

This reminded me of my gravest concern for America's purveyor of change. Amongst all of the election hope I quietly waited to see if Mr Obama would change not only the policy, but the way policy was initiated and carried through. I think he has and I am now convinced that Mr Obama is the real deal.

I also believe that change to be the source of his unpopularity.

Even as long ago as the 15th Century a political essayist by the name of Niccolo Machiavelli posited that:

'So far as other things are concerned, men live peacefully as long as their old way of life is maintained and there is no change of customs.'

It seems that people wanted President Obama to change their fortunes for the better, without a change to the customary abuse of Presidential authority. In the wake of dissatisfaction, the Democrats, as the Liberal Democrats in Britain, have found themselves in a position where principles and success are seemingly at odds.

In the States, President Obama is struggling because he is carrying out the change he has offered, in keeping with principles but forgoing success while Liberal Democrats leaders have sacrificed much in terms of principles in return for scant successes.

It is, partly, the failure of these parties to get their message out that is making the tightrope walk between principle and success so difficult. As I have discussed here for several weeks, language is absolutely key in politics. Change, or any other policy you pursue, must happen fast or you better be very good at convincing people it'll be worth the wait.

However, real change, principled change, takes time. President Obama himself concedes that point (Stewart, 2010). Principles require time to do everything by the book, time that doesn't exist in politics.

As long as there are loopholes to exploit; as long as their are cheats to use; as long as there are those who want something badly enough, there will always be those who will use every trick in the book, in a way that a principled politician can never be allowed to.

This has always been exploited for quick fix results that can be trumpeted as something to add to the win column. All this leads people to ask why the new leader doesn't get things done as quickly.

It seems to me that when the United States of America goes to the ballot box, they want to appoint a leader who will 'get it done'. They don't seem to want to elect a president as much as they want to appoint a commander-in-chief.

Mr Obama is undoubtedly the leader America deserves and the leader America needs. But is he the leader America wants?

This all brings to mind the voice of a Max Brooks character in 'World War Z':

'America wanted a Caesar, but to be one would mean the end of America.'

It seems that something has to give.

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References:
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+ Velma Hart asks for answers from President Obama; CNBC Town Hall Meeting, September 20 2010;

+ Niccolo Machiavelli's 'The Prince (Penguin Classics)'; George Bull's Translation & Editing;
 Longman; 1 edition (8 May 2003)

+ Barack Obama: "Yes we can, but... it's not going to happen overnight";
 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart October 27, 2010 - Barack Obama;
 CBS News's 'Obama to Jon Stewart: Change Isn't "Overnight"';

+ Max Brooks' 'World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War'; Duckworth, 2007