No Quick Fixes

America's biggest issues will still rage come spring, no matter who wins Nov. 4, Charles Ogletree, Jr., said Tuesday at the ILR School. View web cast.

"I've been cautioning people, especially African-Americans, about romanticizing what it means to elect Barack Obama. It doesn't mean we will end poverty or have universal health care in 100 days. Even a Democrat will have difficulty getting things done with a Democratic Congress," Ogletree said to more than 120 people during the school’s annual Milton Konvitz Memorial Lecture.

Another 200 people, via an ILR webcast, watched Ogletree's presentation, "The Combustible Mixture of Race, Gender, Religion, and Politics: Lessons Learned from the 2008 Political Campaign."

Ogletree is the Harvard Law School Jesse Climenko Professor of Law.  He is also the founding executive director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School.

"There's an interesting dichotomy in this election," he said. "There is a cognizable number of whites who won't vote for Obama. The question is, will they come out to vote for McCain? I think they will be split."

Ogletree, who said he knew Michelle Obama and Barack Obama when they were students at Harvard, has spoken to the Democratic candidate about the election.

"I told Barack Obama that I want this over by 11:55 on November 4. He said he'd do his best."

In this year's presidential campaign, Ogletree said, gestures, symbols and details culled from obscurity sometimes took on outsized significance.

"The reality is that certain things just stick and sink in," he said.

"It's inconceivable," Ogletree said, "that America would turn its back on this opportunity for change. I think America is ready, and I think there are going to be some very significant surprises."