‘He’s a political star’

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This article was published 28/01/2019 (2599 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Barack Obama is bringing his presidential star power and political perspective to Winnipeg.

In what is being billed as “A Conversation with President Barack Obama,” the groundbreaking former U.S. president will take centre stage at Bell MTS Place on March 4.

The news is generating a lot of excitement.

“I always thought, in one of my fantasies, of having a conversation with Barack Obama,” said Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba.

“He’s a political star, there’s no doubt about it. His oratorical skills are quite impressive,” said Thomas. “I don’t think he’ll have any trouble selling out a venue.”

Obama’s visit is part of a swing through Western Canada including stops in Calgary and Vancouver. Reports in those cities say the speech is a message of hope and inspiration.

Thomas said that kind of message will resonate in the chaotic, insult-hurling and litigious realm of current U.S. President Donald Trump.

“The contrast with the present president is so drastic,” he said.

Just last week, as Trump was losing his battle to build a wall along the border with Mexico during the government shutdown, Obama was the one entertaining the NBA’s defending champion Golden State Warriors during the team’s visit to Washington. Trump had earlier rescinded the team’s invitation to meet him at the White House.

Thomas and Christopher Adams, a political scientist based at St. Paul’s College at the University of Manitoba, believe history will view Obama favourably.

“His 2008-09 rescue of the economy has to stand as an enormous accomplishment,” said Thomas.

He also brought in national health care to the U.S., said Adams.

“I would say the other thing about Obama is he did not bring America into any new wars.”

No less remarkable is he was the first black American president.

Obama won a massive victory in 2008 with nearly 53 per cent of the popular vote — more votes than any candidate in history.

With his inaugural speech, he declared, “On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear.” He started his first of two terms as president of the United States that strove to bring Americans together, a time in office that stands in stark contrast to the current administration in the White House.

For all his abilities and accomplishments, Obama is also “fun to watch,” said Adams. “I’m not partisan but he’s a great public speaker. He has charm, he has wit, he’s self-denigrating.”

He said Obama comes across as a world statesman. “He talks about the international order, he talks about efforts for world peace, he talks about hope. I think he’s somebody that elevates a crowd when he speaks.”

Adams went to see Obama speak in North Dakota during the 2008 American election. “If the planets align, I’ll be going” to his Winnipeg speech, said Adams.

Despite leaving the White House two years ago, Obama continues to generate headlines and is a major draw on the lucrative speaking tour circuit. He has occasionally spoken bluntly about the Trump administration. Last September, during the mid-term election campaign, Obama tweeted a video speaking about the importance for young people to get out to vote.

In that address, he worried about what was happening in the current White House administration.

“I think we are seeing some unprecedented behaviour that violates norms that in the past have been observed by both Democrats and Republicans,” he said. “The only check on that behaviour is having a Congress and other elected officials that stand up for American values like the rule of law, freedom of the press, and not trying to intimidate enemies by threatening them with the criminal justice system and being transparent and disclosing potential conflicts of interest. Basic stuff, that doesn’t even get to policy yet but really is central to our democracy being able to work.”

Although he has mostly remained above the fray of the constant chaos and partisan bitterness of the Trump administration, it will likely be worth the price of admission to see if Obama takes any swipes at the current resident of the Oval Office.

Obama isn’t the first former U.S. president to visit Winnipeg as Bill Clinton also made a speaking tour stop in 2003 while Jimmy Carter returned for his second Habitat for Humanity project in 2017.

Since the end of this second term as president in January 2017, Obama campaigned for the Democrats in U.S. mid-term elections while devoting time to the Obama Foundation that, among other things, works to promote youth leadership. His wife, Michelle Obama, is amping up the couple’s star power with the release of her best-selling book Becoming.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca