Barack Obama 2008 & Tony Blair 1997: Comparison
How the Obama Election Campaign Victory Compares to New Labour's Win
Nov 17, 2008
There is a euphoria of expectation across America, for the man elected to lead the most powerful nation on Earth, Barack Obama. Britons are all too familiar with this feeling. In 1997 Tony Blair's New Labour was swept into power, after an election campaign of grandiose rhetoric, like Obama, promising change, at home and abroad.
Capitalising on Weak Predecessors
The Labour leader was young, 43 when he became prime minister, a maverick figure, accentuated even more so by his Conservative rival, then prime minister, John Major. Major's government won a shock victory in 1992, but was always associated with the much disdained Thatcher years of government. He didn't have a hope, his grey appearance, unimaginative demeanour next to the charismatic Blair.
Where Blair benefited from the stumbling, ineffectual government of John Major, for his election victory Obama can owe much to the failings of the Bush administration. Try as he did, John McCain, the defeated Republican presidential candidate could never totally distance himself from George Bush in the eyes of the electorate. Barack Obama compounded this throughout the long campaign by, among other issues, repeating that as Senator from Arizona, McCain voted with George Bush 90 per cent of the time.
Although both Blair and Obama owe much to their respective predecessors' shortfalls, it takes a highly intellectually astute politician to convey this to the masses in order to gain maximum advantage for themselves.
Personal Appeal of Both Men
Charisma is a rare comodity, especially in politics. In Blair and Obama we have two politicians who have it in spades. The youth of Britain related to Blair moreso than previous political leaders. It was well documented that he had a passion for football, he played guitar, issues that people could relate to, unlike the dreary, mechanical John Major. Obama has single-handedly restored faith in democracy to America, with young peoples' vote far outnumbering that for McCain. His campaign mobilized a nation to come out and vote. The election saw 136 million people go to the ballot, in comparison to 121 million for the 2004 election. He is capable of engaging an audience on his own.
Both men have an unrivalled capacity to persuade, an invaluable tool utilised by Blair throughout his premiership, and what no doubt, Obama will need to use to the best of his ability as president, if he is to change a country in turmoil domestically and abroad.
It is not surpising that Obama and Blair share a similar background. Both men were educated at exceptional institutions, Blair at Oxford University, Obama at Harvard University. They both went on to become lawyers and indeed, married two women whom were also successful lawyers.
Great Expectations
Blair's legacy will always be tarnished by the Iraq War. With such great expectations when he took office as prime minister, it is unsurprising that he failed to live up to them. Obama faces a similar predicament. Not just America, but the world harbours an unrealistically expectant hope for what the new president will be able to achieve. He will take office, arguably with the greatest myriad of problems an American president has ever faced. With an economic crisis some have described as the worst in human history, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an impending deep recession and soaring budget deficits, to name but a few of the president-elect's problems, Obama will do well to solve one or two of these problems inside a four-year term, let alone all of them. However, he will be aware that in great crisis lies opportunity.
Although Blair made mistakes in government, he was of course successful in many areas, which propelled him to lead New Labour to three successive general election victories. Like Blair, Barack Obama attaches great importance to his country's role in the world, the notion that America is a force for good, lost among the foreign policies of George Bush.
Where Blair succeeded when so many have failed, in bringing peace to Northern Ireland, ravaged by sectarian violence for decades, Obama could do the same for the Palestine/Israel conflict, where ironically, he will be working with Mr Blair, the Envoy to the Middle East.
