Capsun's Corner – by Capsun M. Poe

Translation:  Good Morning, President Obama

At 7 am Hawaii time, Barack Hussein Obama II, of Illinois (but born and raised in Hawaii), will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. Don’t forget that we didn’t always used to hold Inaugurations in the frigid winter.  In honor of this historic occasion, I want to share part of a paper I wrote in December 2007, Lack of apathy:  Overcoming voter apathy, that offered six solutions to overcoming voter apathy.  Emphasis in bold made by me in 2009.

Batch #2:  Engage People to Convince Them to Vote
Solution #4:  Barack Obama

In a recent informal conversation with Congressman Neil Abercrombie, in response to a query by the author on what would be the best strategy that America could employ to overcome voter apathy, Congressman Abercrombie stated simply, “Barack Obama!” Congressman Abercrombie truly believes if we elect Senator Obama President, the United States will be headed in the right direction and on the right course.  This applies both to voter apathy and on the broader policy issue.  These comments should not be accepted uncritically; after all Congressman Abercrombie is a politician and elected officeholder who is one of Senator Obama’s staunchest supporters in Hawaii.  However, the author does possess a high opinion of the Congressman and the ideas he espouses.

More accurately, or perhaps even more importantly, the attraction toward Senator Obama may not be so much him personally, but the idea of Barack Obama and what he stands for is the main source of the appeal.  Obama’s preferred style of politics is not the same old as in Washington, D.C.  Two qualities that he exudes are transcendence and a sense of both competency and vision.  Few viable candidates can combine these qualities in as successful a manner as Senator Obama has, and that is provided that they had both to combine.  For the purposes of overcoming voter apathy, disillusionment, and disconnectedness, the quality of transcendence is most important.

Obama has a platform, a message, an appeal, and a delivery that a seasoned politician should have; he navigates the electorate as easily as most seasoned shoppers do a Costco aisle.  Yet he is only coming upon his third year in the United States Senate; by Washington, D.C. standards, he is a political neophyte.  But with his looks, style and charm that are reminiscent of President Bill Clinton at his prime, Obama appeals to a wide selection of the American voting public and to audiences on the world stage.  Candidate Obama appeals as easily to Whites as he does to Blacks (he is half-White and half-African), to both the young and the old, and often the more affluent and the less affluent.  In trying to overcome the bitter politics that get in the way of tackling the greatest challenges facing the United States, he seeks to introduce a new, inclusive brand of politics that focuses on the common ground competing interests share as opposed to the differences between them.

In short, the idea of Candidate Obama has the potential to wake up an entire generation of voters well-known for not exercising their right to vote.  At the same time, that same idea brings a sense of renewed hope to older generations that may have spotty records at the polls as well as the most seasoned of voters in America’s oldest generations.  The end game here is that more and more people may become enfranchised as a result of their new-found connectedness to the political process, which may in turn eliminate or at least mitigate disillusionment.

Looking back, I still stand by what I said in 2007.  In fact, I’m a little surprised at how prophetic my words were.  Again, congratulations, President Obama!

Mahalo!

Tags: #inaug09, #inauguration, abercrombie, apathy, clinton, dc, obama, president, transcendence, voter, voter apathy, washington