For the first time Obama has given millions of Americans “Hope” in a presidential candidate. Surely an Obama presidency offers much more hope and promise for a sustainable and just future than the alternative. The McCain-Palin ticket is a zesty combination of a presidential candidate who confuses where Spain is on a map, and a running mate whose foreign policy experience is Alaska’s proximity to Russia (in the winter you can apparently walk across the Bering Straight without having to secure a passport). Yet, we need to realize that while Obama is certainly a better candidate than John McCain for anyone even remotely interested in social justice and progress, the election of Barack Obama is not in itself a means to an end.

If we analyze the Obama campaign with a little more focus and set aside the promise and hope we all feel, it is important to ask what an Obama presidency could look like if the millions of people who have become mobilized and politicized by the campaign stop their organizing efforts on November 5th. Equally important is for us to envision building a movement cohesive enough that will make our message heard.

A look at Obama’s inner circle shows an uninspiring mix of old Democratic Party insiders, certainly killing the mood on Obama’s promise to bring a new spirit to Washington (Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden doesn’t do much to inspire hope for a new type of governance). Of course, the only way Obama could have gotten through primary season was by reaching out to the Democratic old guard, but what then does that mean for an Obama presidency if he has to continue to work with Clintonian Democrats? These are the same Democrats willing to institute sanctions that had a disproportionate affect on women and children in Iraq that left the country devastated.

So then, we should ask ourselves what would a good presidency look like for the United States in 2009, regardless of the candidates? Do we want the next president to continue to maintain significant amounts American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan?

While the two candidates agree on maintaining a large number of troops in both countries, the question becomes exactly how many should stay, or rather, should the United States continue to occupy a country where an overwhelmingly majority of the population wants to see U.S. forces withdrawn (see Zogby poll taken in January of 2005)? Do we want the next president to continue to use dirty energy, pushing us closer and closer to a point where we will be unable to turn back the damage we have done to the environment (ethanol included)? Furthermore, do we want the next president to continue an expansionist approach to foreign policy treating nations and leaders which should be allies around the globe as rivals and competitors?

What if there were an alternative to this type of presidency? What if the next president promoted military withdrawal from not only Iraq, but Afghanistan as well, where it is clear that the American presence is the driving force preventing peace and reconciliation rather than promoting it?

An exciting youth-led campaign is mobilizing hundreds of thousands of young people involved in the election to demand green jobs, an investment in a clean energy economy, a “moratorium on new coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear plant construction and infrastructure”, and for the focus of American foreign policy to shift “from military intervention to international cooperation and join the world in pursuing peace and international development, thereby offering assistance to vulnerable and impacted communities”. What if we make our voices so loud through the use of new media and on-line campaigns, that the next president would have no choice but to listen to us?

What if the next president promoted a new kind of economy, a new kind of politics, and a new kind of foreign policy that promoted solidarity, equity, efficiency, self-management (the idea that an individual should have a say in a decision to the degree they are affected), and justice?

This type of presidency is certainly possible, we may have a better chance to realize this type of government now than ever before, especially if Barack Obama is elected. We need a movement of millions of young people willing to carry their efforts beyond the campaign trail to become organizers after the first week of November.

Millions of people must be actively engaged and engage their peers to continue to pressure (if he’s elected) President Obama to fulfill his promises. Because, as it is now, Obama is caught between a grassroots movement who truly believe his message of “Change” and “Hope” and the old Democratic guard who expect their appointments and positions and politics as usual in Washington. Let’s make our voices and our movements strong and organized enough so that we give them no choice but to hear us.

As Arundhati Roy says, “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”