Obama: Sí, se puede … almost

In an eloquent and stirring concession speech, Barack Obama ended his failed effort in New Hampshire with a rousing call for hope and change.

Assuring his supporters that the campaign would move forward to ultimate victory, Obama, whose message of "change" was picked up by all the major candidates from both parties except McCain, refined his message of inclusiveness to contain the rallying cry of "yes we can".

Reaffirming the belief that when faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles, the American people can rise to the challenge if they have the will to do so, Obama listed off a litany of historical occasions when an apparently quixotic quest became reality through the sheer power of will. The junior Senator from Illinios led followers in an emotional call and response, punctuating each occurrence with the phrase "yes we can".

We know the battle ahead will be long. But always remember that, no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics. And they will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks and months to come.

We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

For when we have faced down impossible odds, when we've been told we're not ready or that we shouldn't try or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can.

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation: Yes, we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights: Yes, we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness: Yes, we can.

It was the call of workers who organized, women who reached for the ballot, a president who chose the moon as our new frontier, and a king who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the promised land: Yes, we can, to justice and equality.

Yes, we can, to opportunity and prosperity. Yes, we can heal this nation. Yes, we can repair this world. Yes, we can.

But conspicuously absent in the list of dreamers and visionaries who have shaped the fabric of the nation, was the man perhaps most associated with the phrase "yes we can"; Cesar Chavez.

With his omission of Chavez, and the movement he founded, Obama missed a golden opportunity to reach out Latino voters.

Although he referenced "the call of workers who organized", apparently referring to the UFW, Obama seems to have walked up to a line ….but was reluctant to cross it.

He mentioned a president who inspired us to reach for the moon, and "a king who took us to the mountaintop", but did not reference "the caesar" who coined his new rallying call. He just couldn't bring himself to say the words that would have demonstrated true solidarity with the nations fastest growing demographic …"sí, se puede".

Those three simple words, spoken in their original tongue, would have sent a clear message to all that Obama really means what he says when he speaks of his "new American majority… of rich or poor, black or white, Latino or Asian… ready to take this country in a fundamentally new direction"

While some might claim that Obama's use of the slogan in English is an obvious homage to it's originator, and by extension an outreach to Latino voters, the subtlety is easily lost on those not aware of the phrase's history.

This was no more evident than in an exchange between right-wing pundit Pat Buchanan and Air America's Rachel Maddow during MSNBC's coverage of the speech. When Maddow reminded Buchanan of the phrase's Spanish translation, he quickly jumped on it, barking and growling about Obama taking up the cause of "illegal aliens" ....until Maddow pointed out that it was in fact a slogan born out of union organizing, and had resonance for all working people.

And herein lies the problem.

Obama is well aware of the fact that for many voters, their only familiarity with with the phrase comes from the toxic debate over immigration, and when given an opportunity to really demonstrate his "new American majority" of inclusiveness, a chance to enlighten and teach by example, he took the path of least resistance.

For a man who recently claimed just how much words matter, and the great power they have to effect change, what is not said is often just as important as what is.


…oh, well, maybe next time… sí, se puede