Obama's Power of Hope

Hope. It is the most powerful word in the English language. It is one of those words that transforms its meaning to suit each of us as an individual. Hope is more of a course than a destination. Every occasion, every event, every twist that destiny has in mind for us can dramatically change the course of hope. Think to yourself how you last used that chameleon of a word, and then think about how you used it the time before that. Chances are it changed meaning for you even from one day to the next. So it stands to reason that for every human being sharing air on our planet, regardless of race, gender, age or nationality, that tiny four letter word means something different. For the sick, hope means health. For the poor, hope means fortune. For the oppressed, hope means freedom. For the hungry, hope is a bountiful harvest. For those at war, their hope is peace.

Enter Barack Obama...the hope-peddler. Ever since his electrifying speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, he is the candidate that is most often associated with hope, but with such a vast array of meanings floating through our collective minds, how can it be the lynchpin on which to stake his candidacy?

The hopes of each of us, as individuals, can set the course of our personal goals and give us a direction and purpose for waking up every morning, it inspires action. We hope we can pay our bills on time, so we grudgingly get up and go to work. We hope that we can fit into last years jeans, so we cut out the midnight snacks. But what happens when we apply hope on a grander scale? Barack Obama has the keys to that answer in his very soul. There is one line in his stump speech that doesn't get a lot of attention, but it defines his agenda for America, "to give hope to the hopeless." The brutal truth of those words is the panacea promised by his message of hope.

Look at the disapproval ratings for everything that is government these days. The disconnect that the average American feels makes each of us apathetic. The fact that we feel we have no voice in the direction of our own future robs us of the fire that inspires us to do more. The fuel that charges us ahead to help the less fortunate, to better our communities, to strengthen the fabric of our society and the world, is hope. To listen to Obama is not an exercise in being comforted with empty promises of what our leaders will do for us, it is a lesson in how to actually achieve what we all yearn for by aligning our hopes as a nation and using the collective force of motivation that hope provides to take the big steps we need to take to tackle the big problems that administration after administration have skillfully pushed along until we were all shackled in the chains of hopelessness and despair. We have become an empty carcass of the great nation we used to be when our leaders inspired each of us to do more and be accountable for one another.

It is no wonder that Barack Obama has been seeing a huge surge in support as his simple message of hope is passed on from one crazed, hope-infected supporter to the next. Once it's got you, it's tough to shake and it feels good to recruit the next citizen to the movement. It's not a tough sell. The answers to the hard questions of what we really want are not really that divergent. There are things that we all want, things that we all agree on and that we can have if we, even for a moment, can take a step back from the things we just can't seem to see eye-to-eye on and simply focus on the problems that we do agree on. I think we would all be pleasantly surprised at how those other problems shrink once we have taken our common problems to task. Let's see how those other "unfixable" issues lose their formidability if we have a leader that can make us demand more from ourselves, a leader that sets an example for us to follow so that we gravitate to traits like truth, integrity and morality while at the same time helping us reduce desperation by providing things like a living wage and healthcare for all. In one swoop you not only reduce things like crime, but you encourage service to the community and country that helps make life good again. Self-sacrifice is a price most Americans will gladly pay for a just cause.

Now we have come to the point in the election process that you could call "closing arguments" in the run-up to the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses. Candidates are feverishly making their last pitches in even the smallest, most out-of-the-way districts of Iowa to build a storm of momentum that will "hopefully" propel them to the nomination. See, every candidate is at the mercy of that ethereal but quite real phenomenon of hope and they are all its slave. Being able to harness and direct that all powerful force is a unique skill that only Barack Obama has shown true mastery over.

At this moment in time, most Americans are collectively hoping for the same thing, change. Hillary Clinton has been stumping lately trying to somehow steal the mantle of change by taking veiled shots at both Edwards and Obama by saying some people think they can bring about change by demanding it, some say they can bring change by hoping for it, but she believes the only way to bring about change is to work hard for it. I've got news for Senator Clinton, nobody will work hard for anything without the hope of achieving something better stoking their passion to work for a common purpose.

Another thing about hope is that it knows no boundaries. Hope is not an American right, it is a human gift. Barack Obama is the only candidate that has proven to have this ideal firmly in his grasp. He understands that far away nations where hope is fleeting due to desperate times will eventually succumb to despair. Despair breeds contempt and violence, and as the old saying goes, misery loves company. He understands that by living in an Ivory tower without regard to the suffering and hopelessness of others less fortunate, we are encouraging the very worst manifestations of desperation. That is what brings terrorists to our soil. That is what builds training camps that teach disillusioned youths to revile America and all for which we stand. With his crystal clear understanding of the power of hope and his willingness to once again establish America as a beacon of light in a darkening world, he knows that by giving just a little bit of America, our rewards will return to us a thousand fold. That is how we keep America safe from a nearly invisible enemy. That is how we can sleep well at night.

The last thing you should know about hope is just how fickle it is. Lies and deceit can not accompany it. Corruption doesn't mix with its purity. Arrogance is not its friend. Secrecy will strip it of its power. To be a true master of hope and harness its unbridled positive energy takes strong moral fortitude, it takes selflessness, it takes character, charisma and integrity. To truly wield the power of hope it takes the very best that is inside us and in this Presidential race, the only candidate that has a chance to catch this lightning by the tail and make America great again is Barack Obama. Here's hoping that the 44th President of the United States of America will be the man that knows more than a little something about that thing called hope.