Barack Obama, like Saul Alinsky, says politicians should not see voters "as mere recipients or beneficiaries," The Washington Post reports. "It's time for politicians and other leaders to take the next step and to see voters, residents or citizens as producers of this change," Obama told Hank De Zutter of the Chicago Reporter. "What if a politician were to see his job as that of an organizer, as part teacher and part advocate, one who does not sell voters short but who educates them about the real choices before them?"
But Obama has differences with Alinsky, particularly on the issue of political self-interest. In Alinsky's philosophy, poor folks, for example, might support a conservative Republican in the short term who doesn't really represent their interests, or a Green Party candidate (who has no practical chance of winning an election) in order to gain leverage with Democrats who may be taking them for granted.
He told The New Republic recently that "Alinsky understated the degree to which people's hopes and dreams and their ideals and their values were just as important in organizing as people's self-interest."
Sen. Richard Durban (D-IL) told the Post he sees another difference between Obama and Alinksy. "If you read Alinsky's teachings, there are times he's confrontational. I have not seen that in Barack. He's always looking for ways to connect."
Drill Deeper:
- Barack Obama's Unlikely Political Education (New Republic)
