US: The Obama Mirage - Behind the rhetoric of “hope” and “change”
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Sunday January 13, 2008 14:59
by SY Online - Socialist Youth
socialistyouth at hotmail dot com
01-6772592
Article by a US Socialist. (Socialist Alternative)
It seems like on the cusp of being real. For the first time in the U.S., a black man has a serious chance of being the next occupant of the White House. Barack Obama won the Democratic caucus in Iowa and finished a strong second to Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire.
The centerpiece of his campaign has been the claim that he is the candidate of “hope” and “change” as opposed to the establishment figure Hillary Clinton. He has crowned himself the king of post-racial and post-partisan politics. With the assistance of the corporate media machine, he’s been allowed to capture the imagination and hope of millions of voters, particularly new layers of politicized young people.
This includes hope that he has a “realistic” plan to end the Iraq War, that he is not beholden to big business interests and that he’s the candidate of universal healthcare. Obama wants us to believe that he’ll lift up the working poor and save the middle class.
A corporate candidate
The truth behind the Obama phenomenon however is much less attractive than the image. If you actually look at his concrete policy statements, voting record and source of campaign funds, Obama is a trusted servant of the big business elite. He represents the U.S. ruling class’s desperate attempt to put a new face on its domestic and global domination.
Obama’s list of top campaign contributors reads like a Wall Street Who’s Who list, with Goldman Sachs at the top. How does he claim to not be taking money from lobbyists and PACs and still raise over $80 million? (opensecrets.org) The answer is the magic of bundling – elite individuals with a lot of influence get many senior and junior level executives to donate the maximum amounts ($2300 for both the primary and general elections). As of October 29, Obama had received 46% of his campaign money from mega-rich donors who had given $2300 or more.
For the rest of this article visit: http://socialistyouth.wordpress.com/2008/01/12/the-obam...ange/
Comments (2 of 2)
Jump To Comment: 1 2I mean where the hell did they find condeleeza rice. Nasty piece of work. A woman too!
Fact is, It doesn't matter about your skin colour or sex, religion or anything else. Just your actions and affiliations. A scumbag is a scumbag. Obama is a just another big business puppet
The "privatise everything" ron paul viral campaign is quite sinister too. A capitalist nightmare.
It seems Edwards is the only one of the front runners to have made a strong anti corporate statement.:
"I absolutely believe to my soul that this corporate greed and corporate power has an ironclad hold on our democracy."
sounds promising.
link:
http://www.anarchismtoday.org/News/article/sid=84.html
while i accept the original posters cynicism, in the short term. In the long term it is an interesting development for americian politics. it might be a little bit harder to polorise black and white americian working class on so called 'race' lines after this same for clinton. If irrespective of race sex or creed people are seen as credable on there own merrit that's a big change. The centre ground will/has shifted. the liberal agenda has reached it's peak. The left no longer have to be chearleaders for political correstness because everyone will own it after this. Time to bring new arguments to the forfrount.
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