"The Bodacity of Hope"

← This sticker, and this discussion, are not about Barack Obama. While I'm not one of those uber-cynics who claim there is no difference between Obama, Clinton, and McCain, I also happen to believe that not much social change comes from the White House. I believe it's axiomatic that a "leader" finds a parade and then gets in front of it. We (the grassroots, the people) must first create the parade.

What we're inviting you to discuss in this posting is how to build the "Yes We Can" parade.

The actions of leaders sometimes provide clues about what's happening in society -- about where the parade is headed. On that score, I think there's something significant and encouraging to be gleaned from considering the Obama phenomenon. But I'd like to suggest a viewpoint that does not see the candidate, or even his candidacy, as the central element of that phenomenon.

"Change" is the buzzword of the 2008 Presidential race, and it has appeal because the people of the U.S. are in broad agreement that the last seven years under George W. Bush have been one horror show after another (and not the good kind). It isn't just platitudes about change that are exciting people; something many on the left tend to forget is that people are excited by a compelling vision of where we are headed, not just what we oppose. Rev. Martin Luther King knew that his "I Have a Dream" speech needed to catalog the wrongs of racist oppression, but it couldn't stop there; Dr. King also needed to offer his "dream that one day, even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice ... that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Many of us hold little hope that the fundamental ills of society will be cured by electing the right person, no matter how right (or how left) the person.

That doesn't mean the 2008 election is meaningless -- far from it. The policy differences (PDF/240K) between Clinton, Obama, and McCain will have huge impacts on people's lives (including, for many, whether they even have lives: presidential policies can be fatal, as we've seen to our deep chagrin these past several years).

If we're looking for fundamental change, we need to go beyond presidential politics.

How do we begin? How do we slingshot off of the "got hope?" energy of the political campaign to give momentum to broader progressive change?

Look, there are 23,000 of us in the ProgressivePortal community. A group of 23,000 activists is a powerful resource. I believe that if we step up, we can change the game.

We're launching this blog to start a conversation with you about how we can change the game. What would a new hope-based, inspiring progressive activism look like? What issues lend themselves to such an approach, and how do we get it started? How can online activism play a part?

These are not new ideas. There are numerous examples of "yes-oriented" activism. We've linked to some of them in this essay, and we hope you'll submit your favorites too.

For many reasons, positive-oriented approaches rarely get much attention from mainstream media and culture in the U.S. The Obama "got hope" campaign, we believe, has opened the door for something broader. Our job, as we see it, is to prop that door open and let some much-needed fresh air in.

Now it's your turn to offer information, strategies, ideas. Got doorstops?
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