"You'll be tempted to think
that the miracle would be elevating a Black to the presidency of the most
powerful country in the world. Nope. I was referring instead to the miracle of
causing another Republican to succeed the most ill-fated and unpopular
administration in living memory."
The North
American Democratic Party is poised to become a political miracle-maker. You'll
be tempted to think that the miracle would be elevating a Black (sorry,
African-American is the politically correct term) to the presidency of the most
powerful country in the world. Nope. I was referring instead to the miracle of
causing another Republican to succeed the most ill-fated and unpopular
administration in living memory. The ill-fated part is my own; but the
unpopular part is a global opinion which is shared by the Yankee electorate .
I don’t remember the exact numbers, but the popularity polls crown our dear
George W. with the incredible achievement of being more detested than Richard Nixon
himself during his period of even greater disgrace.
I have
already won several half-bottles of whisky betting friends that Obama would
beat Hillary in the primaries and that John McCain will defeat Obama in the
actual election. I base my prognosis on mere intuition, since U.S. politics has
always seemed more boring to me than sucking on a nail. I have the impression,
watching the process from afar, that this time the Democratic primaries were a
kind of first round. Just as in other countries, the first round serves to
allow voters to express their ideological positions. Democratic primary voters
registered a strong vote of protest against the political system; the power of
lobbyists in Washington; and the disproportionate influence of large
corporations in politics. There seem to have been a sudden upwelling which has
translated into a demand for change.
ELECTION FUN: OBAMA AND MCCAIN
TO GO TO IRAQ
While this demand has now
been clearly established, whatever the outcome of the election, I believe that
voters will be rather practical when choosing the president. Aside from the
vague and ambiguous notion of “change,” the two major themes of the campaign
are the war in Iraq and the economy. And I have the impression that on both
these counts, the Republican candidate has the advantage. While the Americans
have realized that the war has been a fraud induced by powerful interests which
led them to commit an injustice, I think over time they will become more
inclined to giving the mandate for making for a dignified withdrawal to a man
who has the credentials of a war hero, rather than to someone who simply
opposed the invasion. They need someone to put an end the conflict and that,
furthermore, will allow them to think that victory was achieved.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
In regard to the economy,
something similar could happen. What is being discussed is no longer a mild slow-down,
but an impending crisis with the strong odor of recession. In their own
pockets, North American citizens are feeling the catastrophe [hecatomb] of the
mortgage markets and the hike in oil prices. They already know that things are
badly screwed up, and they will probably bet for a more centrist candidate with
more experience. The stigmatization of Obama as a novice during the primaries
will certainly weigh heavily during the final vote. Still, the vice
presidential nominations are still pending, of course, and they could introduce
some new wrinkles.
But beyond the specific
themes of the campaign, it seems to me that the United States is not ready to
elect a Black president, and worse still, one deemed too liberal (in truth, I
don’t have the slightest idea what that means to them). The desire for “change”
is certainly real, but I don’t think that adds up to much. A little tune has
come into my head: “Manfred-Ivo, a Positive Change.” Do you remember how that
ended? [Manfred-Ivo ran for the Bolivian presidency and lost].
