A New America

Few who love and admire America could fail to be moved by the victory of Barack Obama in the election on Tuesday. It was, to adapt a phrase of Tony Blair's used of another distinctive moment, an occasion when people could sense the hand of history upon this man's shoulder.
America's capacity to reinvent itself has rarely been more tellingly displayed than by the rise of the brilliant, black senator from Chicago, who rallied a vast army of supporters across the country, many young or poor, many from minority communities, many previously alienated, under the single banner of "change". His power as an orator exceeds even that of John F. Kennedy, the predecessor with whom he is most often compared; and he has used it to transform American politics. On his coat-tails both Houses of Congress have been secured for the Democrats. Those who thought they had established a near-permanent Republican hegemony, an awkward but effective alliance between socially conservative Evangelicals, neoconservative ideologues and free-marketeering big business, found their dreams discarded overnight. Suddenly such things no longer define American politics at home nor America's presence abroad; the world will have to learn to reckon with a very different American role in international affairs.

The issue that dominated the start of the presidential campaign, Iraq, faded in significance towards the end, both because of the economic downturn and because the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq ceased to be so contentious following developments on the ground. And it was the economy that finally destroyed Senator John McCain's chances. This is by far the most pressing challenge facing the incoming president, and it is a weakness of the system that, when decisions have to be made urgently, he does not formally take power until late January. President Bush, already seen as a lame duck, must now take his lead from his successor, for instance at the forthcoming international summit on the financial crisis on 15 November. The restructuring of international finance, which means designing a successor to the Bretton Woods agreement of 1944, cannot wait. Nor can efforts to reverse the recession in the American economy, which has already started to destroy jobs and displace people from their homes. If Mr Obama's policies are the right medicine, the patient needs it now.

Africa's powerful new ally

America's new president is an African American in an unusually literal way - his father was a black African, from Kenya, and his mother was a white American. He was raised by his white American grandparents, and rose through law school to be head of the Harvard Law Review, a position among the nation's intellectual elite. Unlike that of his wife, his family history does not carry the humiliation and hurt of slavery; indeed the African American community was at first a little cautious about his qualifications to be counted one of them. But his election is already demonstrating the power to transform their perceptions of what being a black American means, to lift a historical burden from their shoulders that at times seemed to shape their destiny. And this change of perception also applies to how America will be seen abroad. With a black president there can be no hint of white supremacy. And it will affect how Africa is seen too. The president-elect has many relatives still living in Kenya, whose own president has announced a public holiday in honour of this week's victory. Those with Africa's interests at heart, like Gordon Brown, have a powerful new ally. But Mr Obama has yet to admit that the protectionism he has sometimes seemed to favour will in the long run harm developing economies such as those in Latin America and Africa. Maybe an election in the midst of an economic crisis is not a good time to be candid about such matters.

Doctrine of ‘soft power'

In his victory speech Mr Obama spoke eloquently of America's true influence in the world being not because of its military might or wealth but through its ideals, "democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope". This is a doctrine of "soft power" which the world is ready to hear, having seen how the spread of American influence by armed force backfired so dangerously in Iraq. From that misadventure he now has to withdraw, but responsibly. From the more justified military campaign in Afghanistan he has to find ways to turn armed struggle into peaceful progress: the troops must come home from there eventually too. He has another chance to revisit America's most depressing international failure, its inconsequential interventions in the interminable Middle East conflict. This, too, cannot wait. He takes seriously the threat to the planet from global warming, and his administration will owe nothing to Big Oil and similar vested interests. Clean alternative energy will now be America's way forward, not the notorious "drill, baby, drill" of the defeated vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin.

In many respects Mr Obama's policies resonate with the social justice that the Judaeo-Christian tradition promotes, such as the relief of poverty, health care for all, new jobs to replace those lost, affordable housing, care for the environment and so on. He is a Christian, although not of the fundamentalist kind, and he has Catholic connections in his background. But it appears that some leaders of the Catholic Church, America's largest denomination, failed once more to read the signs of the times, and tried to insist that this inspiring and epoch-transforming election, this turning point in American history, was once again just about abortion. The laity saw things differently; indeed this time the Catholic vote was almost indistinguishable from the population as a whole.

Policies of social justice

A rethink of the American bishops' strategy on abortion is urgently necessary; at the moment their message is not being heard by the majority of Americans. The letter from Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, written on behalf of the US bishops to President-elect Obama, congratulating him on his victory and urging him to defend the vulnerable and the life and dignity of every person, signals a more pragmatic approach and a willingness to engage in dialogue.

Americans perceive their society as unique in the world; certainly it is uniquely successful. One arrogant and bullying model of that exceptionalism has died and been buried this week - the imperial version represented by President Bush and those who surround him - while another has been reborn. It is all the more inspiring for having risen from the ranks of ordinary people, the "we the people" of whom the constitution speaks, led by a man whose skin colour still marked him as an outsider. The powerless have taken power, snatching it cleanly from the entrenched interests that clutched it close. It is a version of the American dream that has hardly been seen before, where the mighty are cast down from their thrones and the humble are exalted. And that is not the end of it, just the beginning.