EDITORIAL – Obama: Taking names, calling for change

Many political analysts have said that Sen. Barack Obama’s victory at Thursday’s Iowa… Many political analysts have said that Sen. Barack Obama’s victory at Thursday’s Iowa caucuses was a pivotal turning point in the 2008 presidential elections. Others have said it might become one of the most pivotal political moments of the 21st century. But nobody can disagree on one fact: Win or lose, come next November, Obama’s victory in Iowa last week was a sign that the American electorate is changing.

In the last election, we were a year entrenched in Iraq, our economy was still rebuilding from the tragic Sept. 11 attacks and many Americans were uncertain what direction our country was headed in. In this time of fear, scare tactics and buzzwords like “stay the course” won over the optimistic but doubtful campaign of “change.”

Now, four years later, we’re still in Iraq, our economy is struggling and our position as a world leader is declining. And with politicians on both sides of the aisle agreeing that the current administration has made mistakes, we’re ready for change. In fact, we’re craving it.

And that’s where candidates like Obama and Republican Iowa victor Gov. Mike Huckabee come in. While Huckabee shares southern roots and conservative social values with our current president, his modest upbringing and ability to criticize the current administration and the GOP represent a breath of fresh air for many conservative voters.

Obama is the anti-Bush. He’s young, liberal, intellectual and a fantastic speaker. Most importantly, Obama has been able to do the impossible: tap into the youth voting base of America. Obama has campaigned on college campuses, organized young people to participate in his campaign and taken advantage of the growing phenomenon of social networking sites.

While Obama’s strategy to ignite a youth movement was risky – Howard Dean took the same strategy four years ago and was unable to get young people out to the polls in Iowa – it paid off in a big way.

Last Thursday, Obama not only captured the youth vote, he was the reason for it. More than one-fifth of the voters who participated in the Iowa caucuses were less than 30 years old, a substantial increase since 2004, according to the Associated Press. And three quarters of those voters said they caucused for Obama – an indication that he has the ability not only to inspire young Americans, but to bring them to the polls.

Why? Because, to young voters, many of whom who have never voted in a presidential election before, Obama is the kind of candidate who is easy to get behind. In fact, after listening to one of his speeches, it’s hard to not get behind Obama. He preaches change, the American dream and the prospect of a new political era.

Obama’s opponents have criticized his vague promises of “change” and “hope,” pointing out the difficulty of singularly mending our nation’s woes in four to eight years.

But they’re missing the point. Obama can’t fix our country alone. Nobody can. We need an inspirational leader to unite our country, to inspire us to work toward a new era together. And to many young voters, Obama represents the best person for the job.