Lessons from Obama's handling of the hot abortion "issue"

Today, President Barak Obama addressed the graduating class at Notre Dame University in Indiana. He gave what is called the "Commencement" speech. This tradition is common in all large US universities and the pick for this speech is usually loaded with significance. Notre Dame, for those who don't know, is the largest, most representative catholic university in the US. Catholics are at the forefront of the abortion debate and are clearly in the Pro-Life camp. So, given the public stance of president Obama on the subject (being openly Pro-Choice), this choice can be percieved as provocative to say the least. During the week before the speech, campus life was marked by protests and people opposing vehemently to the president's presence. This didn't the president from going to Indiana and delivering another master piece.

Obama entered the arena to cheer applause and a couple of protesters.

Lesson 1 : The majority of people are pragmatic and not dogmatic even though the latter ones are the ones who get their voices heard the most.

The speech in itself was typical Barak Obama : empathy and pragmatism at the same time. He advocates doing everything possible to lower the number of unintended pregnancies while increasing access to abortion clinics across the country and making services targeted at accompanying women after they get an abortion ever more effective given the terrible impact such a procedure has.

Lesson 2 : When you address people as adults and you show them that you understand their point of view and there common ground to both sides of an issue, they start listening.

He acknowledges that it's a difficult issue and that people are emotionally super-charged around it. He then states that people should be comfortable discussing difficult subjects and that it's the only way to move forward, all together.

Lesson 3 : Never position people against each other (us vs them), always be a Uniter

This leads me to think, why can't we have similar debates in our cherished country, Tunisia? There are so many "hot issues" starting with "Women wearing the veil" - This is a social issue that the legislator felt compelled to tackle but people still debate whether it's a good thing or a bad thing. There is a Laic camp and a tradionalist camp. People on both ends of the spectrum vilify the opposite side but there are a lot of moderates. All we need is a leader who can stand up and show people that the government understands everybody's concerns but that the law is intended to protect the majority. When you explain to people the decision process, they feel more comfortable with the outcome even if it's not what they expected in the first place.

We're still looking for a proper place to hold public debate since the traditional media by at large is not adventurous enough to explore these risky terrotories and the internet is such a chaos that only the extreme ends of the spectrum can scream loud enough to make a voice for themselves. We desperately need obama-style leadership.