The document discusses the author's interest and involvement in Barack Obama's 2004 campaign for the US Senate in Illinois. It describes how the author initially had doubts about Obama due to the failed campaign of previous African-American senator Carol Moseley Braun. However, Obama proved himself through his community organizing work, views opposing the Iraq war, and ability to attract diverse supporters. The author began actively campaigning for Obama and believes that regardless of the presidential election outcome, Obama will have influence on US-Africa policy as a senator. The author sees lessons for Nigerian politics in Obama's success through grassroots organizing rather than relying solely on money.

1. The Obama Phenomenon
By
Kayode Fayemi
Perhaps more than any other time in recent history, the worldwide interest in America‟s
next presidential election is beyond belief. A global survey released two weeks ago
confirms this intense interest, with the majority of the countries surveyed rooting for John
Kerry (not surprisingly), while Nigeria - in a minority of three states (together with
Philippines and Poland) - want Mr Bush to continue in office. Whether this is true or not
is not the subject of this piece, even though I must say the conclusion of the survey on
Nigeria was a bit of a surprise. But I digress. Living in the US for most of this year, I
must confess to a certain interest, maybe even an obsession about the American elections
too. I spent a great deal of my limited time following the party campaigns. Inevitably,
proximity became a key factor in my monitoring and it was the rise and rise of Barack
Obama, the Democratic Party Convention star and presumptive junior Senator for
Illinois, home to my host school, Northwestern University, that really caught my
attention most. For me, there is a sense in which the Obama story, so far at least, presents
a silver lining in an electoral process that has been riven by imperious hubris and largely
captured by moneybags.
As I moved into my university apartment in Evanston‟s bitingly cold January weather,
my eyes caught a small, blue billboard and window poster adorning my neighbour‟s
home, with the caption “Obama for Senate.” That same weekend, I stumbled on a TV
campaign advert by the so-called Obama at a friend‟s place – with the candidate harping
on being the first African-American President of the Harvard Law Review. Although he
said other things in the campaign ad, I found the bit about the Harvard Law Review too
pretentious and unnecessary. I recall entering into a long-drawn argument about the
shallowness of American politics, with the friend I was visiting. A discerning observer of
local dynamics and Professor of Politics at Depaul University in Chicago, my friend tried
to explain the machine nature of Chicago politics and why Obama needed to tout
whatever can give him an advantage in a competition that was overwhelmingly heading
in his opponents‟ direction at that stage. Still, I couldn‟t see where Harvard fitted into
this. To convince me, my friend gave me a quick profile of Obama beyond his Harvard
association, which clearly suggests that he is no fake, simply eager to use his race and
privilege to curry favour. Already a well known community organizer in Chicago South
side, Professor of Constitutional Law at University of Chicago and three times State
senator in Illinois, Obama was a dark horse in a seven person Democratic primary race
for the Senate seat being vacated by the Republican Senator, Peter Fitzgerald; his

2. campaign fund was nothing to write home about, he was known to have unequivocally
opposed the „War on Terror‟, carried a funny name that sounded more like „Osama‟ and
was not the anointed candidate of the Democratic Party apparatchiks in Illinois – the
Daleys and the Jacksons and their likes. In short, rather than keeping up with the joneses,
he was actually bucking the trend, rooting himself in the community, not with the
moneybags. In a sense, the Harvard label was not his real story, even if it was part of it.
Even after discovering Obama‟s antecedents in Chicago community organizing, listening
to his stump speeches, reading his soul stirring autobiography, “Dreams of My Father”
and getting introduced to him at an event on Northwestern‟s Evanston campus, I had at
least one other reason for not immediately warming up to him. I mean, we have been
here before. I can‟t help recalling the story of another African-American sister who
occupied the seat before the retiring Fitzgerald. To refresh memories, Carole Mosley
Braun was the Senator whose involvement with the Abacha dictatorship sealed her fate,
leading to eventual loss of her seat in 1996. At a time that human rights activists around
the world and the Congressional Black Caucus had urged a boycott of the Abacha
regime, Moseley Braun had opposed sanctions against Abacha, soon after benefiting
from an all expense paid trip to Nigeria, with her ex-boyfriend, Campaign Manager and
Abacha lobbyist, Kgosie Matthews. It was this particular incident, which first drew my
attention to Illinois local politics, and I visited Chicago as many Nigerian democracy
activists joined others to campaign for Moseley Braun‟s removal. So, the excitement
about Obama did not quite catch on, much as I had begun to admire the guy. Besides,
most political pundits at that early stage were not optimistic about his chances in the
highly competitive race.
But that was January 2004. The great joy of American political campaigns is that
candidates for high office are exposed to extra-ordinary scrutiny, even when they have all
the money. By March, the fortunes of Barack Obama had begun to look up. The
Democrat who was the front-runner had been exposed as a wife-beater who was not fit
for high office, and his personal millions couldn‟t come to his rescue. Although the race
was still filled with highly skilled, special interest backed and well funded candidates,
Obama attracted support from both white and black neighbourhood, from south side
inner-city projects as well as occupants of $1million dollar properties in northern suburbs
like Evanston. He had focused on issues that affect ordinary people in Illinois – health,
housing, education, social welfare; held clear views on the Iraqi invasion, and remained
very rooted in the community. In no time, Obama had won the endorsement of the
mainstream local newspaper, Chicago Tribune and went on to win majority of the votes
in the Democratic Party primaries. This was in March 2004. At this point, I had relieved
myself of any reticence about Obama‟s candidacy. I immediately registered as an Obama

3. Brigade member – as his supporters are known, took on some responsibilities and started
knocking on Evanston doors on Obama‟s behalf, spreading the word as much as I can.
You may wonder why this should matter to an African who has no vote in America and
doesn‟t even live there. I‟ll explain why it matters to me. First, what happens in
America, for good or ill, affects all of us now – and the global survey referred to at the
beginning of this article demonstrates this. For me, I imagine a White House where the
First Lady is a plain speaking, Mozambican by birth and a Senate with a half Kenyan,
with more than romantic notions and cursory knowledge of Africa, but a complex and
nuanced understanding of the continent, with clarity about race and inheritance – and a
passionate commitment to community development. I am not saying this will transform
race politics and ensure better understanding of African issues amongst policy-makers
over-night, but I believe it will make some difference. For too long, I have watched
unanchored African-Americans like Jesse Jackson and Carole Mosley Braun become
pawns in the political chessboard of dishonest African leaders, failing to connect to the
real story on the continent, in their instinctive support of anything African and in their
search for dubious authenticity of the Sese-Seko and Arap Moi types.
Second, given the nature of race politics in America, it is not unlikely that the voice of
the lone African-American senator will be worth its weight in gold on African issues,
certainly in a Kerry Presidency. Now, this may sound like I am already treating the
election as a foregone conclusion, likely to be won by Kerry. Clearly, I agree that the
American jury is still out on that. It may also appear that I think foreign policy will be the
sole factor in winning a cliffhanger election between Bush and Kerry. Well, while
domestic issues of jobs and housing are still going to be central in the November election,
I don‟t think it‟s going to be simply the economy, stupid! Instead, I do feel that this
year‟s election will likely be settled on „homeland security‟ and international affairs, as
well. Regardless of who wins the November election, I have no doubt that Barack Obama
as the junior Senator for Illinois will be a factor in US‟s place in the African world. As he
told the Democratic Party convention in July in a poignant rebuke of George Bush,
„When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation
not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going…and to never, ever -
- go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace and earn the respect of
the world." Reading his moving memoirs, in which he traced his roots back to Kenya to
interrogate the story of his absentee African father, Obama connects so well with the
realities of his environment and displays an extraordinary ability to touch the hearts of
people from a variety of backgrounds. His message of building bridges in a polarized
nation and world, without underestimating the challenges posed by this desire in a post
9/11 World is one that ought to resonate across race and geography in America.

4. For me, there are also lessons here for the Nigerian political process. Too often, bright
and driven politicians in Nigeria believe that money is the central, if not the only factor in
politics, a factor they use in justifying why they don‟t need to waste their time on
principled and purposeful politics. The Obama story proves that even in America, money
is not everything, important as it is. Without clear ideas on how to transform society,
money can only go so far. It is my hope that many excellent Nigerians will not be
deterred in running for political office in 2007 simply on account of not having the
required resources.
Obama still has an election campaign ahead of him and I do not want to underestimate
how much of a challenge that poses, but barring any unforeseen development, his
election as Illinois‟ junior senator is all but certain. His stiffest opponent, Jack Ryan of
the Republican Party dropped out of the race in June, after yet another wife-scandal and
for weeks – the Republicans scrambled around unsuccessfully for a replacement, before
finally settling on out-of-state, veteran black Republican Party has- been, Alan Keyes. I
have no doubt that Keyes will go the way of the others before him, but I also hope that
the „skinny kid with a funny name‟ makes a fundamental difference in the lives of his
constituents, from the Altgeld Gardens in the projects of South side Chicago to those of
us who stand outside America‟s borders, waiting for reprieve from the clear and present
dangers of America‟s current uni-polar madness.
Dr Fayemi is Director, Centre for Democracy & Development in Lagos,
Nigeria. He was until August, a Visiting Scholar in African Studies at Northwestern
University, Evanston, USA