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EDITORIAL | ELECTORAL MILESTONE

Barack Obama's Victory Historic and Much More

"HISTORIC" has been the adjective most often used in headlines and by commentators of all political stripes to describe the victory of Barack Obama over John McCain to become the first African-American President of the United States. From its origins, President-elect Obama's candidacy was historic. When Obama first announced his intentions on a freezing morning in front of the old Illinois State Capitol, he was consciously choosing the same site that Abraham Lincoln used to announce his own "audacious" run for the White House as a little-known political figure from the Prairie State of Illinois. It was the Republican Lincoln who would in 1863 issue the Emancipation Proclamation that ended slavery in the United States, and it was also Lincoln who presided over the Civil War, which resulted in preserving the Union.

As Senator McCain said in his gracious and eloquent concession speech on Nov. 4, the American people spoke on that date, and all Americans regardless of party, race, religion, national origin or region should celebrate this historic re-affirmation of what sets apart the United States of America from all other nations on earth. Any American, regardless of skin color, gender or religion, can aspire to and be elected to become President of the United States. Obama's victory is understandably a particularly overwhelming moment for all African-Americans and all Americans who joined them in the Civil Rights Movement, led so heroically by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., who "had a dream" that "some day people will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

At the same time, Obama's victory is significant on many other levels:

* Obama's election reflects the desire on the part of many Americans to end the bitter partisanship that has poisoned public discourse in the United States for over 20 years. Obama first gained national attention at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, where he delivered a powerful Keynote Address stating his hope that instead of dividing us into "red" and "blue" state Americans, that we would focus on coming together as a truly United States of America. This bitterness has appeared in the most intimate contexts, among friends and family, and the broadest political spheres. We hope the end of the election signifies a time for healing and repair and an end to such divisiveness, and a return to the potential for unification.

* Obama's election also resulted not only from widespread support for his own compelling political messages and his inspiring autobiographies and life story, but also from widespread discontent with the political status quo in America. Poll after poll indicated that historic majorities of Americans did not feel America was on the right track, and huge majorities were unhappy with the outgoing administration of President George W. Bush.

* Obama's election also represented a strong desire on the part of a clear majority of Americans to find a way to promptly and responsibly end military involvement in Iraq, which has already cost the lives of 4,100 brave American troops, billions of dollars at a time of great economic instability, and which in the opinion of many has distracted the United States and its Allies from the focus on a major front in the war on global terrorism, the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

* Obama's election has been very warmly welcomed by both officials and the populations of nations around the world, many of whom had become disillusioned with what they saw as a "go-it-alone" unilateralist U.S. foreign policy. A fresh start with a new Secretary of State and foreign policy and defense team will far better position America to defend its people and its interests in a multilateral fashion.

* Among the many foreign leaders who warmly congratulated and pledged to work with President-elect Obama were Israeli President Shimon Peres; Prime Minister Ehud Olmert; Tzipi Livni, head of the Kadima Party; Ehud Barak, leader of the Labor Party and Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud Party. Obama repeatedly made clear his strong commitment to continuing the historic, bipartisan support for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, continued foreign aid and military assistance and continued efforts to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians based on a two-state solution, as well as peace with Israel's other Arab neighbors.

* Obama's election is also an indication of widespread support for the numerous domestic policy positions he has articulated during the campaign: the need for universal and affordable health care; rebuilding our crumbling national infrastructure, a more equitable tax system; offering affordable college education to as many students as aspire to attend; assuring the future financial soundness of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and ending the influence of special interest groups and self-seeking lobbyists who corrupt our system of governance. The current economic crisis will of course have an impact on how quickly these programs can be implemented, but clearly Obama's election indicates a desire on the part of a majority of Americans for positive change on the domestic front as well as in the important foreign policy arenas.

* Obama's election, and to a large extent, McCain's defeat also was greatly influenced by the national and global economic meltdown which reminds economists as much of a cyclical 100-year "Panic" as it does of the period of the Great Depression. History teaches us that while Presidents get praised when the economy is good and condemned when it fails, there are limits as to how effective any President's policies can be in reversing major economic cycles. Confronting the current economic crisis will require the kind of coolness under fire for which Obama was praised during his campaign.

Obama, truly a reflective and thoughtful intellectual of the first rank, told an interviewer of his admiration of the book Team of Rivals, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. The book describes how President Lincoln deliberately put some of his most outspoken political rivals and critics in his own Cabinet, against the counsel of some of his more partisan advisers. Obama used the same inclusive approach as Editor of the Harvard Law Review, when he appointed political and ideological opponents to his Editorial Board. In order to bring America together, it will be necessary to follow Obama's advice and reach out not only to Democrats but also to Republicans and Independents, just as we have done in previous watershed periods of our history.

"Come, let us reason together," was the advice of Isaiah, one of the great Jewish Prophets of old.

As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to assume the awesome burdens of the Presidency, we join all Americans in a sincere hope and prayer that he will be successful in his quest for positive change in which we can all believe.

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