Bermudians must stop forming opinions along historical lines if they want the Island to change in the way it's hoped Barack Obama will transform America, according to former United Bermuda Party (UBP) politician Mike Winfield.

At an Imagine Bermuda meeting marking Obama's upcoming inauguration, Mr. Winfield called for people to remove their blinkers and judge others by what they do, not who they are.

Mr. Winfield said over the years it has become popular to question, argue and vilify leadership in Bermuda, sometimes with good reason.

However, he continued: "But as we became more cynical of our leadership, we risked missing the goodness of ideas, we missed the potential of finding a leader that spoke to us, or seeing the right in some of what they said.

"In Bermuda, we continued to think along historical lines, to some a leader of the PLP (Progressive Labour Party) simply could not be speaking to us, and to others, a leader of the PLP could say no wrong.

"In reality, both views are as wrong as the next, for as long as we slip into the old habits of judging people not by what they say, or even more importantly by what they do, as long as we continue to find reasons to condemn, as long as we stay locked in what is wrong, as long as we seek to vilify, to bring down just because that is what we have always done, we are part of the problem and we can never share the banner of 'yes we can'.

"Because we are most definitively, in carrying on those historical behaviours, making the point that, no we cannot.

"Of all the messages, of all the political speeches, of all the ideas, the one resounding idea that we have to grasp if the Obama perspective can become a legacy, not just in the United States but here in Bermuda as well, is that we have to change. We have to emerge from years of blinkers and we have to question our own motives and our own behaviours.

"And to the sceptics who ask have I changed? I can only reply, that I hope so."

Mr. Winfield also criticised the trend of political parties to focus their attention on getting elected rather than doing what is right for the country, something he conceded happened while he was campaign chairman for the UBP.

"Why is it that when elected, one party or the other immediately assumes that they are right and that the voices and views of others are wrong?" he said.

"Why is it that we believe the election of our party to be more important than the good governance of our country? And, before my sceptic friends take another huge bite out of me, let me say mea culpa.

"For many years I did serve as the campaign chairman of the UBP and my job then was to ensure that the UBP got re-elected.

"I say today, however, that we are simply too small and the challenges too great, for us to divide ourselves on any basis, be that by political party, by race, by gender or any of the other means."

He said the emergence of Obama could lead to a new dawn if his message is followed in Bermuda.

"He challenged our historical perspectives but more importantly he dared to suggest that we can overcome the negatives and we can solve our challenges," said Mr. Winfield.

"This is his perspective, this is his challenge. Is it too great a concept to ask of ourselves here in Bermuda? Am I, as I have been accused of before, being naive and denying the way things are done?

"Perhaps, but given the way we have done things to date has not offered us the future we need, want and deserve, I have to ask whether this perspective as made so clear by President Obama, is not worthy of our very serious consideration."

Imagine Bermuda co-chairman Glenn Fubler had to cut short his speech due to time constraints. In his prepared speech, which he forwarded to this newspaper, Mr. Fubler said: "In Bermuda in response to Obama's success, we can celebrate, but we can do something more meaningful too.

"We can come together and address our most challenged young people, we can answer the call.

"We can work together to make our system of education one that maximises the potential of every student; we can answer the call.

"We can move beyond the old divides of black and white, local and foreign, PLP and UBP, rich and poor, town and country; we can answer the call."

Yesterday's Royal Gazette reported how former Premiers Sir John Swan and Alex Scott gave speeches urging Bermuda's leaders to follow Obama's example and stop playing the race card.