Humanizing The President And Presidency

By Ernest Omoarelojie

Party primary (convention) is always an interesting affair. It is the culmination point of all political intrigues, horse trading and eventual determination of the candidate that will carry any party’s flag in high office election. Whereas it is as interesting as they come at both state and local government levels, it is however, a different ball game at the highest stage where the candidate to carry a party’s ticket at the presidential level is nominated. Just as it is in Nigeria where it comes complete with absurdities that will last till the next one, so is it in the United States of America, USA, home of democracy, where it is replete with certain sublime nuances. The recent primaries conducted by both the Republicans and Democrats brought home some lessons which Nigerian politicians and electorate must, of necessity, consider seriously.

A very important point to note is the role of contestants’ spouses as demonstrated by both Michelle Obama, wife of Barack Obama, incumbent American president and Democratic Party flag bearer, and Ann Romney, wife of his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney. In the different speeches delivered by the women at the party conventions, both women gave the American voters an insight into the character of their husbands, the men aspiring to lead the country in the next four years. In a nutshell, they humanized not only their high flying political husbands cum presidential candidates but also the office they seek.

As one of the major speakers at the Republican Convention, Mrs Ann Romney had one purpose in mind. She just must speak directly to American voters, particularly women. about the values cherished by her husband. It was her brief, she must have realized, to let them know that he is the man with values which he learnt copiously from his father and which he not only held in high esteem but bequeathed to his children as well. Mitt, as the aspiring first lady called him fondly, explained that her husband is a man not dampened by his trying beginning during which, as newly weds, they ended up eating lots of pasta and tuna fish, sharing house keeping, living in a house with a door propped up on saw horses and with fold down ironing board in place as dining room table. She talked about him as a man who understood resilience which he also learnt from his father who was a carpenter that never graduated from high school but ended up being the head of a car company and ultimately, governor of Michigan.

Ann did not stop there as she had a word or two for those who hold the view that her marriage to Romney was more of a textbook union. “In story books I read, there were never long, long winter afternoons in a house with five boys screaming at once… And those storybooks never seemed to have chapters called M. S. or breast cancer. A storybook marriage? Nope. Mitt and I had a real marriage.”

In other words, she just wanted to tell Americans the kind of man she is married to. And she ended painting of her husband the picture of an archetypal, real and honest man who took all life threw at him without compromising the great values he learnt from his father. In which case, he is the one Americans can trust with their hopes and dreams. She ended her speech with these words:

“I cannot tell you what will happen over the next four years. But I can stand here tonight as a wife, a mother, a grandmother, an American and make you this solemn commitment. This man will not fail.”

A week later, Michelle Obama, the suave, fast learning wife of the incumbent American president, Barack Obama, took the stage for her own version. It was at the National Convention of the Democratic Party held in Charlotte, North Carolina. The closest Nigerian example to her is Mariam, late wife of maverick politician, soldier and one time military President, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. She talked about her husband as a man of honour, faith and belief. Obama, she told the American people, is a man of honour and arguably the biggest signpost of the American dream. He is a man with the belief America will rise again from the near abysmal perception it is held by many. In him, the America dream will reach greater heights.

Michelle also talked about her worries as regards the changes life brought (and is likely to continue to bring) to her immediate family, particularly her young daughters who, by virtue of their father’s position as American president, had to be “uprooted from the simple life, schools, friends and the only home they’d ever known.”…uprooted from “Our life (filled with simple joys) before moving to Washington…” She is happy with the transformation he has gone through none of which has completely changed him from “…the guy who’d pick me up for our dates in a car that was so rusted out…a guy whose proudest possession was a coffee table he’d found in a dumpster and whose only pair of decent shoes was half a size too small.”

She told her audience about her husband’s story which is too familiar now. He is, she explained, a man in whom many Americans, particularly herself, found a kindred spirit hearing the story of his journey to where he is -raised, like her, by families who didn’t have much in the way of money or material possessions but from whom he received something far more valuable, including unconditional love, unflinching sacrifice and a chance to go to places he only imagined from the standpoint of the great American dream. And she ended her speech by declaring a wish she is sure can come true only through her husband. “I know from experience that if I truly want to leave a better world for my daughters and our sons and daughters, if we want to give our children a foundation for their dreams and opportunities worthy of their promise, if we want to give them that sense of limitless possibilities, that belief that here in America, there is always something out there if you are willing to work for it, then we must work like never before. And we can once again come together and stand together for the man we can trust to keep moving this great country forward, my husband, our president, President Barack Obama.”

Hers was an even more compelling story than Ann’s. And it drew unending applause.

Like Ann who wants Americans to see that Romney’s dream is not different from the average American dream, Michelle wants them to know that Obama is in a better stead to defend the dream being its closest human example. In the end, both women presented pictures of men with noble values who struggled like every other ordinary American. The final picture is that in their different ways, they are capable of protecting every American value given the opportunity. Above all, both women successfully produced real life image of their high flying political husbands and humanized the office they seek. For me in particular, it is a clarion call on their Nigerian version to understand their roles. But as I recall the last primary that threw Goodluck Ebele Jonathan upon us as our president, I am unable to fight feeling of despondence that befell me. Like Ann and Michelle, Dame Patience Jonathan, was a key speaker in that convention but what a speaker she turned out to be with her rave making “Umblera” (Umbrella) speech. Nobody can remember anything of value she said either about her husband or the office of the president. Yet, while her reign remains a sublime definition of the absurd, others before her were the ultimate collection of looting loonies whose perfidious character remains the source of the ugliest part of our nation’s ignoble history. Can’t we borrow, at least, one worthy example?

It is difficult to understand why this nation is ill-laden. It is even more difficult trying to understand why we, as a people, still do not consider it worthwhile to start the search for a man with a spouse cerebral enough to understand the expected role of a true First Lady. It will go a long way in setting the stage for a more responsive and value-conscious president’s spouse which Nigerians urgently need to reconnect our leaders to the cares of the people they rule. The wife of an academic doctor who calls umbrella “Umblera” is certainly not ideal. The one who is a widow (by their spouse we shall know them) even as her husband is still alive cannot represent an ideal Nigerian family. We need a more role conscious First Lady. We cannot afford to continue with the robbers and clowns we have presently.

•Omoarelojie wrote from Benin City