Words by Terry Shropshire.
Images by Gavin P. Godfrey for Steed Media Service.
Transcription by James Benton.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Crystal Maider allowed the question about Barack Obama to hang in the air for a quick minute while she mentally chewed on her answer like an after-dinner mint. Suddenly, she looked up, and with eyes ablaze, her answer leaked out in passionate spurts, wrapped in her soupy Southern accent.
“He is the father of change, because that’s what he stands for,” she said, responding to the question of what she thinks about Barack Obama and fatherhood. The Charlotte, N.C., native spoke slowly and deliberately; as if she was enjoying the taste of each word as it bounded off her tongue. “I can see him going really far with that whole ‘change thing’ because we’ve got to go somewhere. We’ve got to start somewhere, because where we are right now has to change. And it’s going to be huge. That’s why he’s the father of change.”
Maider’s philosophical compatriot, Victoria Greene of nearby Franklin County, N.C., looked like she just emerged from an exhilarating revival service after Obama rolled through North Carolina. Greene called Obama “a leader and protector, because that’s what a father is supposed to do,” she said, smiling from ear-to-ear. “A father is supposed to have your best interest at heart, and I think Barack Obama has the best interest at heart for the middle class and the poor.”
Their views about Obama’s paternal instincts are obviously shared by millions of others as evidenced by the raucous, rock concertlike atmosphere inside the Xcel Center near Minneapolis last week — which is, coincidentally, the site of the upcoming Republican National Convention. Excitement percolated throughout the cavernous arena. The rally ballooned into an Obama victory speech before a thundering throng of supporters that reveled in the opportunity to witness history close-up. Many of the 32,000 had waited outdoors under black clouds all day to get in. Obama supporters have watched this man take leave of his family to father their dreams of change through a political fight of epic proportions and magnitude.
The primary season, a bitter slugfest spread over nearly 18 months, finally came to a merciful and celebratory conclusion with Obama winning the very first (Iowa) and very last (Montana) contests. The junior senator from Illinois finally procured enough delegates, 2,154 to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s 1,919, to secure the nomination for the Democratic Party in what became the longest, most expensive, and most heavily participated in primary campaign (over 35 million voters) in U.S. history. In the process, the husband of Michelle and father of two daughters — Malia, 9, and Sasha, 6 — became the first-ever African American to become the nominee for a major political party. As the presumptive nominee Obama, 46, can now direct his artillery toward Republican Sen. John McCain, 71, and focus on the general election in November as he attempts to become the 44th president of the United States.
Despite the fact that his opponents frequently bemoan Obama’s lack of experience, his candidacy has nevertheless electrified the nation, resurrected a dormant electorate, and exhumed the energy of the youth that had long been buried beneath layers of cynicism and profuse distrust of government.
“I just think it speaks volumes for any leader to not only … inspire others to believe in the leader, but to inspire others to believe in themselves,” said Minneapolis resident Lenae Turner, part of the large contingent of college-age voters who have turned up at Obama events. Perhaps not since the Kennedy brothers occupied the White House have so many young people been inspired by a political figure. “It’s not just about his political future. It’s not about his wife or about his cabinet. It’s about everybody inspiring others and knowing that we as Americans can be better,” Turner continued. “That’s why I came out tonight, knowing that I have a part to play in the political system, that I matter and that my voice matters, and there is something that I can do to make a better tomorrow for myself and my friends.”
FATHERING A NEW KIND OF POLITICS:
Obama can now turn his focus on what type of political father he will be as his team begins to compile a list of prospective vice pesidential candidates. Obama’s win was a cocktail of one part history and one part cultural phenomenon, served to the world in a shaker. John Sykes of Raleigh, N.C., was more than ready for a black male role model who didn’t dunk or rap. “The reason why I brought my children is because these are black young men in America. We see a black man doing positive things in America, so this lets people know, especially black males, that anything is possible and that they can have aspirations to reach for the stars. They need to see something positive happen like this in America,” he said.
Sykes’ wife, Benita, took the Obama analysis another step further. She called Obama “very positive. He seems to be a great husband. He and Michelle seem to have a great relationship. He has qualities that other black men can look up to and follow. So he’s going to be a great example,” she said. “He’s already set the bar for other men to follow, so I just think he’s just an awesome guy, and he’s going to be our president.”
In the spirit of being a benevolent patriarch, Obama thanked all the people around him for his historic triumph, including his grandmother, his wife and children. “I say ‘thank you’ to my grandmother, who helped raise me and who is sitting in Hawaii somewhere because she is unable to travel, but who poured everything she had into me, and who helped to make me the man that I am today,” he boomed over the sea of supporters. “Tonight is for her.”
As the new paternal torchbearer for his party, Obama exemplified graciousness in reference to his rival, despite the fact that the campaign degenerated into a divisive affair full of vituperative denunciations and questionable political machinations. “Sen. Clinton has made history in this campaign. She has made history not just because she is a woman who has done what no woman has done before, but because she is a leader who inspires millions of Americans with her strength, her courage and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight,” said Obama.
OF KENNEDYS AND KINGS:
The timing of Obama’s nomination is striking on a couple of fronts. He is seen as the symbolic inheritor of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, bequeathed to him by the undisputed Father of Modern Liberalism, the legendary senator from Massachusetts, Edward “Teddy” Kennedy. Ted Kennedy himself was viewed as the heir apparent to that legacy when his older brother, the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated 40 years ago this month. Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of the late John F. Kennedy, publicly endorsed Obama, calling the Harvard Law School graduate the greatest embodiment of her father’s legacy.
Also, Obama first became a legitimate candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency following his surprising win in Des Moines, Iowa, in proximity to the Martin Luther King holiday in January. Dr. King is considered the father of the Civil Rights Movement, and Obama is one of the nation’s most visible beneficiaries of King’s work. During the 40th commemoration of MLK’s assassination in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, King’s youngest daughter Bernice King, an Atlanta-based minister, said that the number 40 signified the commencement of major changes in the world. She and other speakers repeatedly referred to Obama as part of that inevitable change.
And, as pundits have noted, Obama sounds more and more presidential as he continues his uninterrupted and meteoric upward trajectory on the world stage.
“Millions of voices have been heard and because of what you said, because you decided that change must come to Washington, because you believed that this year must be different than all the rest, because you chose to listen — not to your doubts or your fears — but to your greatest hopes and highest aspirations, tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another, a journey that will bring a new and better day to America,” he said.
Then Obama said something that set the bulging Xcel Center aflame with delirium, an earth-quivering collective roar that could be heard and felt all the way down in southern Louisiana where McCain was also delivering a speech. “Because of you, tonight I stand here and say that I will be [the] Democratic nominee for the president of the United States of America.”
Rachel Boykin of Minneapolis was so high on the emotional impact of the evening that she could have levitated right off the ground. “I am so proud tonight. As an African American female, this is who our role model is,” she said, each word covered with unbridled excitement. “Don’t look into the rafters. Quit looking to BET. Look to Barack Obama. Young black men and women out there … get out there and vote for this man. This is our future.”
