Real News Network: Will the Real Obama Please Stand Up?
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 11, 2008
2:47 PM
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CONTACT: Real News Network
Deni Baldwin, 416-916-5202
Email: smcommunications@therealnews.com |
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Will the Real Obama Please Stand Up?
Aijaz Ahmed: Obama's Economic Speech – Will Obama Shift The Economy Away From Big Oil and Arms?
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June 11 - With the democratic nomination under his belt, Senator Obama is riding high on invigorated public support. The task of effectively distinguishing himself from Senator McCain now lies ahead of him.
As Obama's campaign has progressed, his foreign policy objectives show no meaningful differentiation from those of his opponent. Both candidates seem poised to move forward on claims of an Iranian threat. So what are the differences, if any, between Obama and McCain?
In part one of a four part series examining Barak Obama's presidential campaign, Real News senior editor Paul Jay asks Aijaz Ahmed, senior analyst and political commentator, just this. According to Ahmed, there are two main areas in which Obama differs from his opponent, and he explains what these differentiations will mean for the campaign, and beyond.
The first area of differentiation lies within a cultural context. Abiding racism in some parts of the US will continue to impede Obama's campaign as misinformation spreads. While the US has seen African Americans in high-level governmental roles before now, Obama is the first progressive, democratic candidate, poised to flout the imperialist objectives of a conservative ruling party.
In the face of racism and fallacious cultural assumptions, Obama must remember to stay out of a defensive posture, to draw light to the second, and far more important issue: economic policy. "The real question would be: is there going to be an Obama presidency which turns American economy into a productive economy led by real investments in social infrastructure, infrastructures of various kinds?" says Ahmed. Will an Obama presidency drive the economy "away from the oil-weapon dollar corporations which were the ruling and dominant part of the American economy that were driving the Bush-Cheney crowd"?
One thing is clear: An Obama presidency is going to require a mass movement not only of Democrats or built upon disaffection with the Republican policy, but built around the idea of change itself.
Watch part one at The Real News Network:
Will The Real Obama Please Stand Up?
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