In case you missed it, the world changed irreversibly last week with the election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. The election of Obama, forty years after the assassination of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, has already been described as a political change to rank alongside the end of apartheid in South Africa and the fall of the Berlin Wall. As someone fortunate enough to have witnessed the event first hand, it is hard to disagree.
Much has been made of Obama’s race as the factor which explains most of all why this election was so important and this is true for people of all races and groups, not just African-Americans. However, Obama has not been elected principally because of his race, but because of his ideas. As remarkable as it may seem for America to elect an African-American President, it is no less remarkable for America to elect a man who believes, in his own words, in "spreading the wealth around".
Having followed these elections for two weeks now, I have been struck by the clear similarities between the language and policies of Obama with that of Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. On the campaign trail, on the television and wherever else he goes, Obama uses the language of social democracy. He believes, as Labour does, that government can be a force for good and that the market should be regulated for the benefit of both society and the market itself. He believes, as Labour does, that universal healthcare is a right and that poverty can and should be eradicated. As a Labour politician, listening to Obama has a very familiar ring to it so it’s little wonder that so many senior Labour politicians have publicly supported his candidacy.
Exactly the same similarities can be found between the Conservatives and the Republicans. Remember that David Cameron invited John McCain to be the keynote speaker at the Tory conference last year so that both could wax lyrical about ‘compassionate’ Conservatism. Both men’s response to the international financial crisis has been deeply flawed and has exposed their natural instincts – a dogmatic belief in the supremacy of the market above the interests of society – and both men want to give bigger tax breaks to the wealthiest in their respective societies at the expense of the poorest within both America and the UK. McCain fought an extremely negative and personal campaign against Obama and so too Cameron delights (in the absence of much policy) in the petty name calling and personal abuse of Gordon Brown which he instigates and encourages others to emulate. David Cameron has shown increasingly poor judgement over recent months and his very public support for John McCain tells us far more about his views than he would clearly like the public to know…
The similarities are remarkable and point the way to the same divisions over the same issues in our own next general election.
Gordon Brown has called Obama’s election, "a defining moment". Adding, "It is up to us whether 2008 is remembered for a financial crash that engulfed the world or for a new resilience and optimism from a generation which faced the economic storm head on and built the fair society in its wake."
The Prime Minister’s judgment has been impeccable in recent months; here, he is right again.