Over the past few days, as the Barack Obama phenomenon has gathered momentum and the news of the historic victory of his Democratic win in Iowa has spread through the nation, many Americans have felt proud to be an American.

This is a feeling we have not had in a long, long time, since well before the Supreme Court bypassed the votes of the American people and selected George W Bush to be the resident in the White House in 2000. My own personal shame and frustration came from the havoc Bush’s selection and subsequent policies caused at home and abroad, especially in the Muslim world.

Yet, on Thursday, when the sixth whitest state in the country, in record levels of participation, elected a black man with a positive message, a ray of light finally broke through the dark clouds. Finally!

The feeling of pride is not driven by partisanship, but what the victory means. For the first time in American history at the presidential level, in Iowa of all places, Americans looked beyond the colour of a candidate’s skin to see his message.

Unfortunately, American politics, like Malaysian politics, has been bogged down by clearly defined racial barriers. People have mistakenly judged a person by their race, by ignorant over-simplistic stereotypes. There are specific glass ceilings on racial participation and a black president was one of them.

Since the 1960s, the barriers for minority representation have slowly lowered, with the operative word being “slowly”. African Americans and other minorities still only make up l6 percent of the national legislative representatives, despite the fact that they now comprise 19 percent of the population. There is only one Muslim and seven Asians in the US Congress.

Yet, on Thursday, in a campaign where race was a secondary issue, the potential to break the glass ceiling of a minority president of the US is now on the horizon. The potential for Americans to see a candidate in his totality, not judged by the colour of his skin, his middle name or his religion has, come with the new year. This is truly a moment to be proud of.

The reasons for looking past race are as important; American voters are looking for healing. The operative word to describe the Obama phenomenon is “change” - yet the form of this change is particularly important. The US has been in a deadlock of partisanship - Republicans and Democrats, Clintons and Bushes - since the 1990s.

The middle ground, so necessary for effective policy making, has evaporated. The end result has been foolhardy policies on issues from health care and immigration to Iraq. The ongoing quagmire in Iraq is a product of the inability of elected representatives in Congress to offer an alternative to Bush’s misguided zealotry.

Hillary Clinton lost ground because she represents the past, a painful past of vicious political attacks, alienation and polarization. Americans know that there are difficult times ahead - on the economy, international challenges involving managing America’s decline as a world power and addressing the growing policy challenges at home in areas of health care, education and the environment.

They voted in Iowa for the candidate who offers potential to leave the baggage of the past in the past, to offer the potential for real healing of the wounds of partisanship to begin.

Broad appeal

Obama’s campaign has brought new voters to the polls. Reminiscent of John F Kennedy - who broke the barrier on religion when as a Catholic he assumed the presidency in 1960 - Obama’s charismatic youthfulness and positive message are inspiring people to participate and vote. He has won over a large share of the new generation deemed the ‘millennials’.

These voters have come of age in the polarised ‘red’ and ‘blue’ categorisation of states and candidates and at a time when fear over terrorism has been used calculatingly as a negative message to label candidates. They have looked at this ugly negative message in the mirror and said no more. They have voted for a candidate who moves America away from fear to hope.

Obama’s appeal to new voters extends more broadly. He also brought a record number of minority voters into the Iowa caucus and likely will do so in future polls. The level of minority representation that is foreshadowed will not been matched since the late 1960s, at the height of the civil rights movement.

Due to demographic changes, minorities have the power to influence the outcome in over half of the states in the US, and the new influx of minority voters, including large numbers of Hispanics, will have a tremendous impact on subsequent primary elections and the main election next November.

The broadening of political participation in American politics is likely to continue as Obama’s candidacy gains momentum. For the new voters, Obama is inspiring - his candidacy inspires a belief in a better and more inclusive future.

This year the US electoral process offers a real opportunity of renewal in policies and American identity. Obama’s candidacy perhaps best offers this opportunity. Yet, the Iowa caucus is only the first step of many, all of which will be difficult. The campaign to win the Democratic Party’s nomination from Hillary Clinton will intensify, and likely get nasty if the contest remains heated.

The real contest is out of the Democratic Party, for the American electorate as a whole. Race will unfortunately become more of an issue in the national campaign, and, as has become typical of American politics of late, negative messages will be used to tarnish Obama’s positive message.

He will be labelled ‘inexperienced’ more disparagingly, quiet anti-Muslim rhetoric on his middle name ‘Hussein’ will likely emerge, and he will have to defend his policy record from a barrage of attacks.

The road toward victory for Obama will not be easy and is no way certain at this early juncture. There are 10 long months before the final national contest. Yet, in these days after Iowa, this is a moment to take pride in and, in the spirit of the hope, inclusiveness and renewal of the New Year, to embrace.



DR BRIDGET WELSH is assistant professor in Southeast Asian studies at John Hopkins University-SAIS, Washington DC.