Come to the Party of the Future
Ralph Waldo Emerson had great sayings about almost everything, but this one describes the 2008 elections as well as any political pundit has done in almost two years worth of blathering:
There are always two parties, the party of the past and the party of the Future; the Establishment and the Movement…
This principle is what Barack Obama understood early on when he (much to my chagrin to be honest) decided to mount his campaign despite Hillary Clinton’s historic candidacy that seemed back then destined to make her the Democratic candidate and probably the next president of the United States. Obama created a movement that no matter the final outcome of this election has transformed American politics up and down the ticket.
Geez, I really hate this waiting for election results. There’s nothing to do but eat the party snacks to keep from biting my fingernails. And get way too philosophical.
GLORIA FELDT is the New York Times bestselling author of several books including No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power, a sought-after speaker and frequent contributor to major news outlets, and the Co-Founder and President of Take The Lead. People has called her “the voice of experience,” and among the many honors she has been given, Vanity Fair called her one of America’s “Top 200 Women Legends, Leaders, and Trailblazers,” and Glamour chose her as a “Woman of the Year.”
INTENTIONING
Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women
Will Take The Lead for (Everyone’s) Good
The new book from Gloria Feldt about the future, taking the leadership lessons learned from this disruption and creating a better world for all through the power of intention.
As co-founder and president of Take The Lead, a leading women’s leadership nonprofit, her mission is to achieve gender parity by 2025 through innovative training programs, workshops, a groundbreaking 50 Women Can Change The World immersive, online courses, a free weekly newsletter, and events including a monthly Virtual Happy Hour program and a Take The Lead Day symposium that reached over 400,000 women globally in 2017.
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Hourraaaa!!! Congratulations Obama and America!!! Congratulations Gloria! Change has happened!! I’m so proud of America!
I just woke up and can’t believe it!! Am I dreaming? No, I see everywhere on tv, internet, that Obama is president of the United States of America! The long national nigthmare is over! The real work can begin now!
It is a great day. I feel like America is back. The America my grandparents came to with their hopes and dreams, to give me the opportunities I have been privileged to enjoy and want my grandchildren to continue to have.
We are the party of the future! It seemed like a great global celebration last night and still today. Savor it, for tomorrow, it’s back to work FOR those ideals and policies we treasure.
Meanwhile, a big group hug to all.
Barack Obama transformed the way campaigns will run in the future- he utilized the internet, emailing, text messaging and grass-roots campaigning in a way that Hillary Clinton and John McCain had not been able to do. He energized young people and almost everyone else- upwards of 130 million people voted and regardless of ideology, that is a victory for all Americans.
Some people, including Democrats, openly mocked Obama’s upbeat, hopeful message and calm-under-pressure demeanor but clearly, many Americans found that message reassuring and made them/us feel like we had a say in the process. I wanted Hillary on the ticket but there is no doubt Obama has transformed politics, as she did herself with her candidacy. Obviously, Obama will be challenged[as he should be] by both Dems and Republicans to turn that message into action during a time of economic crisis and war- a tall order to fill.
One thing about which Obama and Democrats can be proud is they generally didn’t resort to the gutter-ball, ad hominem attacks which became a staple of the McCain campaign in those final two months. Sure, Obama sparred back some but I think he ran a respectful, issue-based campaign for the most part (minus some slip-ups from Biden).
Most importatly, Americans have demonstrated, with the candidacy of Obama, Clinton and yes, Palin, that while race and gender for some was a factor, the majority of Americans voted for (or against) those individuals because of their stance on the issues-with Obama, H. Clinton and Palin’s placement on the major party tickets, the US has finally demonstrated to the world that the nation with some of the highest human ideals can overcome a difficult and oppressive past (slavery, lack of women’s rights, etc.).