What we could learn from Obama’s victory?!

By Santo Deng

November 4, 2008 — Change has come to America: Senator Barak Obama(D-IL) who is the Democratic party presidential nominee was elected as the 44th President of the United States of America in a landslide victory Tuesday night in the U.S. presidential race against Republican party presidential nominee; senator John McCain of Arizona with a projected electoral college votes of 338 to McCain’s 158 electoral votes. Tonight’s victory for the Democratic party was very historic and significant as it marks the first time a member of the minority group wins a presidential race and becomes the next president of U.S. long after racism and slavery was abolished. Obama’s victory in winning this election is owed in part to his charismatic character, his message of change coupled with his bipartisan approach to solving the nation’s problems, his ability to motivate the people and to rally them behind a higher cause of sacrifice and love of their country and nation regardless of race, color, religion or creed, and his seismic shift from the status quo have molded and shaped his campaign into a proven winning machine. It’s also owed to his ability to put together a great campaign team that have built a strong network of volunteers across all the 50 states who have carried out a brilliant campaign and worked diligently to raise huge funds of money through a ground network of volunteers who have managed to put their leader in the white house, and tonight’s victory is dedicated to them as much as it is dedicated to the American people who have supported senator Obama in this race. According to fox news analysts, tonight’s-American presidential elections “are a generational election, a seismic shift from the status quo”.

Senator John McCain on the other hand, gave a conciliatory concession speech tonight from his election headquarters in Phoenix, AZ, at The Biltmore resort that was described as humble and graceful as he congratulated senator Barak Obama for his victory and he called out to the American people to come together as one nation and promised to work together with Obama to solve the nation’s problems. In the same night, the president elect, Senator Obama came out to his election headquarters in Chicago, IL, and gave a victory speech to the nation infront of a crowd of cheering supporters that was very moving and eloquently articulated the nation’s journey and struggle for change from its past to the present. He also cautioned the people that there will be so many challenges ahead and called for a new spirit of patriotism and service and promised that he will be a president that will listen to the people. According to Obama’s catch words in this election campaign, “change must come from the bottom up and not the other way around” ”Yes we can” and “Change we can believe in” all have signified a shift from the old divisive politics that have divide the people for so long and have held them back from achieving the dreams and hopes that they have cherished for so long. Obama drove the message home to the people when he adopted the progressive policy of bipartisanship and unity of the nation as one of the pillars of his campaign which have struck a cord with the people especially young voters who have voted in record numbers in this election for the first time in the history of the United States of America.

Now that Obama has won the elections, what could third world leaders learn from his approach and the history he has made? Well, one would hope that a similar shift would take place in many of the third world countries especially in Africa and in Sudan and south Sudan in particular. I think bipartisan approach to politics especially in our highly charged experiences would help in solving many of our nation’s political ills. One have observed for so long that our old leadership have poisoned the minds of our people and the younger generation in Sudan as a whole and south Sudan in particular as politics of high gain and trading of words that widens the gaps between the people; be it in the south or north have become the norm of the day when it comes to politics. Such high gain techniques are very divisive to the social fabric of an infant nation like south Sudan and I call upon all the intellectuals to learn as well and to desist from practicing such politics of doom. Let us come together as south Sudanese and build a nation on good values of respect and tolerance for other view- points that are different from ours. We must not fear to reach out to one another as individuals and tribes in good faith as this would cement our unity and strengthen our resolve to achieve more milestones in our collective history as a people and a nation. No matter how distant this may seem, let’s remember that it takes only sincere efforts from each and every one of us and the rest would be history right before our eyes.

*The writer is a Sudanese living in the U.S.A. he can be reached at [email protected]