A recent poll found that a substantial majority of Canadians want Barack Obama to be the next U.S. president. More surprisingly, another found that if Obama were the leader of the Liberals or Conservatives in Canada, he would win decisively.
There is no doubt he is exciting. He is a charismatic, skilled orator who has embraced Facebook politics to astonishing effect. His political skills and acumen have driven a meteoric rise. He is a respite from George W. Bush, the Iraq war and neo-conservatism.
All of these qualities, however, distract from a greater phenomenon, one for which Obama seems as much a product as a catalyst. His candidacy suggests a political reconfiguration may be under way: Obama’s successes provide an insight into the post-boomer era and the opportunity to transcend the divisive politics of the 1960s.
How the Left Is Killing Progressivism
Confronted with parties whose politics, policies and...
David Eaves is an adjunct professor at the Centre for Digital Media and is frequently asked to write and speak on public policy, open innovation and politics.
Taylor Owen is a professor of digital media and global affairs at the University of British Columbia, a senior fellow at the Columbia Journalism School and author of Disruptive Power: The Crisis of the State in the Digital Age.
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