This story originally appeared in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on November 15, 2008.
Growing up in Manila, I was cynical of politics and politicians. But on the last weekend before the critical Texas primary, I found myself in the Obama headquarters, in an empty office building in downtown Oakland (California), making phone calls to ask people to support Barack Obama.
For the first time, young Fil-Ams like me were part of a greater movement of young Americans to support a candidate representing hope and change. This is partly due to a general feeling that things need to change because the United States is headed in the wrong direction, given the failing economy, a war with no end, and the rising cost of education and health care.
Obama represents change partly because he does not look like any of America’s previous presidents but mainly because he has a unique life story. Raised by a single mother, he managed to be elected as the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, the most prestigious law student organization in the United States. After graduation, he could have had any corporate law job, but he turned down lucrative offers and became a community organizer to get help to people who were hard hit by the closing of steel plants in Chicago. His decision showed a selflessness and a commitment to help the underprivileged.
Obama represents a post-racial America where a person’s color does not determine what he can or cannot do. However, I believe young Fil-Ams are not supporting Obama because he is an African-American, nor are they not supporting him because he is. The same is true with young Americans of all races who have strongly come out for him. I feel that Obama can understand Filipinos more, given that he grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia and his only sibling is half Malay.
Why are the Fil-Am youth coming out for Obama? The main reason is that he reached out to the youth. Getting the youth vote has been part of Obama’s strategy since the Iowa caucuses which he won due to a high turnout of young voters.
From the start of his campaign, Obama had a youth director who used media that young people use to get his message across to them. The Obama campaign invested in a website that lets a supporter form groups based on location, ethnicity, or profession. He also had a Facebook page and a YouTube account that enabled young voters to get to know him better and connect with him.
During the campaign, Obama sent e-mail to young people asking them to contribute small amounts and to volunteer their time to help register and canvass voters. Obama tapped his sister Maya, who is half Asian, to campaign for him among Asian-American and Pacific Islander voters.
Amid the economic turmoil facing the United States, I think Obama’s economic platform reassembles the policies of Bill Clinton. It is aimed at helping middle-class Americans directly instead of relying on a trickle-down approach whose central premise is that when rich people do great, wealth trickles down to the rest of America.
Obama has also surrounded himself with competent advisers like his running mate Joe Biden, unlike John McCain who picked Sarah Palin, a person who did not even get a passport until last year.
Obama will be the first president in modern times to be elected without tapping special interest money. He funded his campaign with people’s money and so he is beholden to the people alone. He should be able to run a government whose No. 1 priority is the welfare of the people, not paying back political debts to big corporations.
Obama should also be good for Filipinos in America because he plans to invest in health care and education, fields where a lot of Fil-Ams are now working. His policy aimed at helping less privileged Americans helps new immigrants to get a good start in their quest for the American dream.
Obama also seems to be more generous to veterans and their family. He supports the new GI bill that would allow Filipino veterans to transfer benefits to their spouses and children.
With regard to immigration, Obama plans to speed up citizenship application processing and reverse recent fee increases in application fees. He also plans to increase the quotas for legal immigrants to meet demands for jobs that employers cannot fill such as nursing jobs.
Filipinos are one of the most hopeful people in the world. Despite setbacks we always believe that tomorrow will be better. Obama’s candidacy of hope has served as a catalyst for young Fil-Ams to be engaged in the political process. His election sends a message to the newly engaged generation of young Filipino-Americans that if we believe, we work hard, and work together—Yes, we can!
