Looking to our future, we are concerned that our generation will not have the same opportunities as our parent’s generation. We are concerned that when we graduate from Northeastern, we will have trouble finding jobs and that when we do, we will not be able to afford quality health care. We are concerned because our environment is in peril and that we are not acting quickly enough to meet the challenges of providing energy for our future. We are most concerned that America will not be able to maintain its strong position as a respected leader and beacon of hope in the world.
With these profound challenges ahead of us, what we need is change. We need a change in our politics so that politicians are more focused on doing what is right for the American people as opposed to the desires of corporate and special interests. At the same time, we need a change in our country that brings people together to face common challenges. That change is Barack Obama.
Obama is uniquely suited to bring this change as a result of his singular background. The son of a Kenyan father and a Kansan mother, Obama spent years of his youth living both in Hawaii and abroad. After graduating from Columbia University, Obama chose to take the path of community organizing on the South Side of Chicago, one that had long gone unnoticed. This experience gave Obama an on-the-ground understanding of the challenges most Americans face every day as well as a strong hunger to solve problems.
After graduating from Harvard Law School, Obama could have taken the lucrative path of corporate law but decided instead to focus on public service, teaching constitutional law and running and being elected to the Illinois State Senate. While in the Illinois State Senate, Obama worked across partisan lines to pass the strongest ethics seen in Illinois history, diminishing the influence of money and lobbyists. In 2003, Obama sponsored and passed legislation that expanded health care to 70,000 children and 84,000 adults. In Washington, we need Obama’s experience and ability to reach across party lines to solve challenges.
In a time when almost every politician fell in line behind the Iraq War, Obama listened to his conscience and opposed the war. He opposed the war against the advice of his political advisers and friends who said his decision would ruin his political career. The same cannot be said for any other candidate in this presidential race. Obama had the courage to stand up and speak out against a fundamentally flawed political agenda. He spoke up when it was unpopular, when no one else would. That is the type of president we hope for and believe in.
In 2004, Obama was elected to the US Senate and has served on the foreign relations committee. On foreign policy, Obama understands that, “September 11 is not a way to scare up votes, but a challenge that should unite America and the world against the common threats of the 21st century; common threats of terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease.” Last August, Obama visited Kenya and was met by crowds of thousands. Watching outstretched arms reach for Obama reminded me of a time when the world reached toward America as a beacon of hope and as a leader, a time that seems long past. We need a president who can rekindle those same feelings toward America again.
If elected, Obama would be a transformational President who would bring change and bridge the divides that have existed in this country for too long. As Obama often reminds audiences on the campaign trail, his campaign is about, “beat[ing] back the politics of fear, and doubt, and cynicism; the politics where we tear each other down instead of lifting this country up.” He seeks to remind us that if we come together as a nation behind one purpose, to bring change, that together, “Yes We Can.”
– Joshua Robin is a middler political science major and president of the Northeastern University College Democrats. Caitlin Coyle is a middler international affairs major and president of NU for Barack Obama.
