"The unlikely story that is Americas"

The 2th of november 2008, 2 days till the 08-election, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania by Mads Peter Petoe

In favour of my friends in the Obama campaign and at my folk high school, the following text will be written in english.


One of the issues that has steadily returned to my head throughout this American journey is What is Democracy? It is not because this sentence is listed in the pensum of my subject, but simply because a lot of what I experience here makes me wonder: "Does democracy actually make sense after all?

Earlier today I see myself canvassing in a suburb of Philadelphia. Today the job is to deliver doorhangers to all the houses on my list. As it's normally the case in 'burbs, there is no pavement, so campaign-volunteers has to go on the road. One of the things that keeps me going is the fact, that right now thousands of Obama-volunteers are doing the same as I all over America. I think about Obama's campaign and about the huge number of people volunteering in it. When I was in Washington D.C. earlier in the week I attended a meeting with the president of the Labour Union AFSCME. He described Obamas campaign as "Genious", both because he started out naming the main subject "CHANGE" but also because of his fantastic grassroot organization. What I think makes this election so beautiful and breathtaking is the peoples movement that i experience. Right now I am a part of a peoples movement, which I have never tried before.

All of my life in Denmark I have never seen a peoples movement in connection. Maybe it is because we have not had the same need of chance as that of America. Or maybe we have not had a politician inspiring enough (like Obama). I think the second sentence is determined by the first one - which I think is wrong. How can we not have needed change, when our foreign policy in many cases have been conducted by Bush?

My feeling is telling me, that what I experience right now in America is the very core of democracy. I have a feeling, that when there's election in Denmark something's wrong. Where is the spirit? Where is the folk movement? Even though, the percentage of voters is higher in Denmark, the very debate is missing. The debate is between a bunch of incomprehensible politicians - not the people. I am asking myself the question: How can you say, that democracy is working, when the people don't take part in the debate?

I enjoy that feeling of satisfaction i get, being part of a peoples movement. Canvassing I get to talk with hundreds of people of which some are in favor of Obama and some of McCain. I believe there can only be a true democracy when there is a peoples movement. And in order to make that there has to be an extreme wish for change. So if one doesn't want change why should one even want a democracy?