Is it Really Our Victory?

One of the incongruities of Barack Obama's election is his insistence that his election was the people's victory.

Any student of democracy knows that the people do not win elections. Elections are won by political candidates and political parties.

How should we interpret Obama's claim and what are its implications for the future?

His words make sense when we consider that we did not elect him because of what he promised but because he represented what we have become, or believe we are ready to become.

In several of his pronouncements, both before and since the election, Obama has demonstrated his understanding that we have transitioned into the post-partisan age. It also obvious to most that on this hangs the gilded future of society.

In that context we can say that this was the people's victory, and the American electorate spoke on behalf of the peoples of the world. This was not a victory of the Democratic party or a defeat of the Republican party. It was the glorious emergence of the people into a way of thinking that holds the promise of world peace.

But, those who represent political ideology in the public eye are not yet post-partisan in their thinking. The Democrats view it as a victory and the Republicans view it as a defeat. Completely oblivious of what really happened on November 4, 2008 the Democrats will spend the next four years attempting to consolidate their positions and the Republicans will spend that time rebuilding. The result is that, if we the people are not careful, we will find that we have been denied the victory we thought we accomplished.