Barack Obama - 44th President-Elect of the United States of America. Photo courtesy Jim Young/Reuters.
On 4 November 2008, Barack Obama became the 44th President-Elect of the United States of America. He is the first African American to hold this post in world history. He will be taking the oath of office as President on 20 January 2009, on the steps of the west front of the US Capitol in Washington DC.
There is a lot from his campaign that he will be carrying forward into his presidency. David Axelrod is to be his Senior Advisor. Hillary Clinton is to be Secretary of State. His monumental online campaign is to be converted into change.gov, a portal from where he aims to keep communicating with the American public on his policies and plans, getting feedback from them, and thereby creating a true democracy.
Though his critics are undoubtedly waiting with bated breath and gleeful anticipation for him to stumble and make his first mistake, no one is really expecting overnight miracles from him either. The unemployment figure in the US is presently at 7.2%, the highest in 16 years. The American economy is in shambles. And the War in Iraq is at a dead end.
But if Obama can show the same commitment, diligence and level-headedness that he has displayed during these past 23 months there is reason to be assured that America has chosen the right candidate, at the right time.
And what do I take forward from this campaign? I guess it is the essential belief that there is more to public relations. That it is not all spin, manipulations or triviality as it is sadly often painted as. It is instead a key profession, which when well-executed, can be a catalyst for positive change, and therefore needs to be taken more seriously and given the credit it deserves.
Obama’s campaign will go down in history as a benchmark for effective political PR, with future campaigns measured against its milestone success for a long time to come.
