Much has been said about how President-elect Barrack Obama’s presidency is transformative for the United States and its people. How only 40 years ago, African-Americans lived in the segregated South, the election to the presidency of this son of a Kenyan immigrant has truly inspired millions into a movement that made all these happen. Obama’s oratorical prowess and his program of change challenged much of the status quo even within the Democratic Party. He became the face of reform in the midst of a debilitating national picture. He embodied everything that is hopeful for a country that is reeling from the seeming collapse of the national morale.
The November 4th polls also catapulted a wider majority for the Democrats in both houses of Congress. This means that the incoming administration will have a bigger elbow room for its programs, even those that would be too Left in the eyes of conservative Republicans. Obama’s capacity to push his programs will be vastly greater than those of Clinton and Bush II given the margin of the Democrats’ seat advantage this time. Issues that would have been too precarious like immigration reform, redoing the Patriot Act, women’s reproductive rights, stem cell research and major foreign policy shifts particularly in the Middle East seem easier to tackle now than ever before. And since Obama is largely perceived to be on the Left of Clinton and even Carter, the audacity of this administration to push its agenda will be very evident.
Which is what the huge mandate in both the presidential and congressional elections means. Elections are always a referendum of existing policies and those that are proposed to replace them. That is what platforms and policy positions during the campaign are all about. The charge to power by the Democrats in Washington will of course be tempered by the promise of bipartisanship. Just 3 seats shy of the filibuster-proof 60, the Senate Democrats are poised to redefine the legislative agenda. The further fall from power of the likes of Elizabeth Dole and John Sununu also mark an ideological shift in the Senate. Even moderate Republicans agree that there will have to be a serious rethinking of where they want to be in the face of this onslaught. Like on stem cell research, or its unbridled embrace of the evangelical cause as the foundation of its electoral base and as a major component of its ideological fiber.
Above all these, Obama’s presidency is a major cataclysmic shift for a country that for years has been leaning to the Right. It will and probably already has paved the way for a change on how the world views America. The United States will once again lay the ground work for a foreign policy that is much less unilateral and takes greater consideration for international opinion. Democratic administrations have traditionally adhered to a brand of international liberalism that foreign powers have tended to favor vis-a-vis the strong-arm behavior of many Republican administrations. Obama’s pronouncements during the campaign always emphasized regaining America’s moral leadership in the world. Bush’s failure to form a broader coalition for the invasion of Iraq stemmed from this fundamental flaw in foreign policy.
On the more specific question on how the Filipino-American community will be impacted by this historic electoral triumph, nothing touches the cord of immigrant communities than immigration reform. It generates much emotion from either side of the political debate. While the issue was seldom discussed during the campaign, there is widespread expectation that Obama and the Democratic Congress will move, albeit slowly, to fix the lingering immigration issue. Increases in family and employment-based immigration will be received positively by the Filipino-American community. Obama’s close ties to the immigrant community especially when he lived in Hawaii and his own immigrant background certainly augurs well for positive changes in Washington on this deeply divisive issue. The vitality of America’s nationhood after all has deeper roots on immigration than any other policy since its foundation. The broader issue of comprehensive immigration reform that includes giving some status to illegals will be a tougher issue to tackle, but will nonetheless probably be on the table. The previous strong opposition to the defeated bill in the last Congress was premised on its lack of border security features. Many of those issues have been addressed and the plausibility of ignoring this lingering issue is next to unacceptable. And Obama possibly realizes this.
After all, finally confronting this 12 million people problem is really just a matter of time.
On a higher plane, Obama’s victory opens up the door for everybody else. It makes it easier for Asian-Americans and Latinos to dream of someday becoming leader of the Free World. Whether some people like it or not, Obama’s face is the face of America’s present and its even more diverse future. The Obama presidency revalidates America’s promise of inclusion for all those who still seek the American dream. That not only is the promise that of a better life, but a much greater role in shaping its destiny.
Who knows, the next Obama could be among us.
No comments:
Post a Comment