The Nobel Peace Prize and Barack Obama

(Perhaps an explanatory note.  I began this comment last Monday, October 12, so if it seems somewhat dated, it is.) 


The Talking Heads went wild this past week-end over the news that the Committee had awarded Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize.  The almost universal reaction was why.  Obama has certainly achieved some notable accomplishments , e.g. becoming the first African American to be elected President, but being elected president has not heretofore  qualified anyone else for the prize.  Thomas Friedman, of the New York Times said in his column this morning that perhaps relief by Obama of the angst caused in European capitals by his predecessor was primary in the committee's thinking.  In any event, if there is any fault in the award, it is certainly not that of Obama, who was as surprised as anyone by the news. 

I don't know why we are so concerned with this matter.  The prize is not an American one.  I don't think we have a representative on the committee.  Neither do I know for sure if there are binding regulations or rules prescribing what must characterize the award.  It is simply nice on occasion to hear our Chief Magistrate, whoever he or she might be, complimented and appreciated, rather than denigrated and held in derision.

On the subject of Obama, I have thought him as charismatic as any president we have had since John Kennedy.  His victories in the primaries, his nomination, his rhetoric and his overwhelming defeat of his opponent in the general election were all astounding.  Most astounding was (and is) his appeal to people who have not heretofore really participated in the political process.  It has been a very long time since five and ten dollar political contributions turned into millions, indeed, a sufficient amount to finance a presidential bid.  Oh, I'm sure when it began to be obvious that  he was going to get the nomination, Barack then began to garner some gifts from the heavy hitters.  But until that time, he was the candidate of the little fellow, and I don't think he has changed.

But there is a hugh difference between the politics of election and the politics of governance.  Even though the polls say he has dropped in  popularity with the people in this country, I suspect those ratings will rise again after the negative ballyhoo subsides regarding health reform.  But it is in conjunction with the effort to accomplish his priorities that Obama will ultimately be judged when the history of the early 21st century is penned.  In the politics of governance, whether in Washington, the state capitals or on the local scene, the arena is ugly and the stakes are high.  Figuratively, those arenas are just as fierce as those of the Colisseum in Rome 2000 years ago.  There are lions and tigers everywhere; toga draped men carry long daggers in the folds of their garments, and delight in the swift plunge at the jugular.  This is, no less, the political game which always surfaces after the election and the one with which Obama finds himself surrounded.

The test of Obama's presidency will depend on his ability to get  his way.   That's a very simple statement of a profound truth and it is, in fact, the measure of the success of presidents from the first to the last.  If Obama can prevail in fashioning a health care bill which truly reforms the system; if he can drag out of Congress a bill which provides real change regarding our enviromental habits; and, finally, if he can get his way by reforming the Wall Street does business, then his presidency will be a profound success.  If he can't, he's wasting our time.  There are an awful lot of very powerful people who have a large stake in the status quo and they won't give up easily.  Most of them hate what he stands for and will fight him with every weapon in their armory.  It remains to be seen who'll come out on top!

 You will remember, perhaps, that President Kennedy was a charismatic person, young, very bright, loved sparring with the press, and they with him.  And most people liked and looked up to him.  But Jack Kennedy accomplished very little, actually.  His main feat was to make us feel good about ourselves and about the New Frontier.  But on the day he was murdered, his lasting contributions were very few.  His death assured his prominent place in  history.

We, who listened to Obama's inaugural address, felt the same optimism for the country's future.  God forbid his murder merely to obtain a chair next to Jack Kennedy!  God forbid it for any reason!

God speed, Barack Obama!