By Philip Honour
Over two million people of all ages, races and from all walks of life descended on Washington DC to see Barack Obama be inaugurated as President of the United States. At the same time, in bars across the world, pub quizs and karaoke were canceled… instead, revelers watched rolling news and got drunk to the sound of Aretha Franklin and forgot, at least until the hangover disapeared this morning, that we are supposed to have fallen out of love with the USA.
Media commentators across the world have labeled this new movement, who will gladly sit in the pub and watch sky news instead of sky sports, ‘The O Generation’. Obsessed with texting, twittering and politics, they are predominately made up of college graduates who’s first taste of protest was over the Iraq war before being drawn towards the grassroots movements calling for an end to the violence Darfur and Uganda before receiving a call to action from closer to home when Obama announced his arrival on to the National scene. They revel in the idealism of his message of change and, like Clinton, Blair and Sarkosy before him; his charm, style and poise captivated the hardest social group to reach, the Oprah audience.
For those obserrvers in the UK, this response is not new. In 1997, we had our own Obama. A media friendly personality who drew crowds on the campaign trail and was endorsed by celebrities, his arrival was greeted as a new start. He was a new kind of politician, a change from the old guard, the man who could ensure fairness in our society and at the same time, promote democracy worldwide as the only form of government that truly works.
Obama could learn a lot from Tony Blair. He should study his record, what went well, what went wrong, and what was misunderstood. He should follow his example of leading from the front, not shying away from the tough decisions, not being afraid of embracing and praising political polar opposites such as George. W. Bush.
Obama has four years to prove to America and the world that he can deliver. Labour has until next year. Labour speaks the language of those who wish Obama were Prime Minister. We can lead from the front; ride the momentum from across the Atlantic that will undoubtedly lead to a resurgence of political interest amongst young people in this country.
No other party can deliver what ‘the O generation’ are striving for in this country, strong leadership, a plan to combat the recession and a foreign policy that shows that we strive to make the world a better place.
After over a decade, Labour are still the only party who can deliver change.
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