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Obama and Huckabee: Good

News for the United States …

'Iowa has done great service to American democracy. … The campaign now promises to be as exciting as some of the best Hollywood thrillers, which is useful in a nation where national politics interests few citizens. … Obama’s victory resonates the most cherished American myths: idealism, youth, unity through diversity and new frontiers to conquer … Go Barack, go!'

By Pascal Riché

Translated By Sandrine Ageorges

January 4, 2008

France - Rue89 - Original Article (French)

Obama among Democrats, Huckabee among Republicans. For people into American politics, the victory of these two men at the Iowa Caucus is a feast.

It's a mixture of pleasure and surprise, the joy of seeing the “capable” ones in politics take a slap in the face (Clinton, Romney), the excitement of novelty, and the tempting promise of a suspenseful race …

Among Democrats, the race is far from over for the Black Illinois senator: he must still reckon with Hillary Clinton, the Senator from New York who brags about being the most "electable" (and for being the most serious) and to a lesser extent, the former senator from South Carolina, John Edwards (who came in second place in Iowa), the favorite of the left-wing of the party who has the advantage of having roots in the South.

Among Republicans, Huckabee can boast of having seized - in the snows of Iowa - the Grail that American political scientists call, “the mo.”

But he only recently emerged from obscurity - his finances and his network are still thin. However, he has an invaluable asset going for him: that of being a former governor (not a Washington politician, a species prized very little by voters) and anti-abortion, which is a cornerstone in the Republican primary race (in Iowa as in other rural states, the Republican Party base if is dominated by Evangelicals ). He's amusing; he's critical of unrestrained capitalism; and is very conservative on social issues.

IOWA DOES GREAT SERVICE TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY.

Iowa, by shifting the momentum to these two men, has done a great service to American democracy. The campaign now promises to be as exciting as some of the best Hollywood thrillers, which is useful in a nation where national politics interests few citizens. The televised debates among the candidates in recent months have been seen by less than 1 percent of Americans … And according to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, a quarter of those polled were unaware that Democrat Hillary Clinton was in the race and over half didn't know that New York's former mayor, Rudy Giuliani, was seeking the Republican nomination … In contrast, more than two out of three Americans believe their country is “on the wrong track,” a score rarely equaled.

Another excellent service rendered to the country by the people of Iowa: placing a Black man, right from the outset, in the lead of the Democratic race. Given the history of the United States, this is an “earthquake,” as noted by David Brooks, the well-known conservative columnist (the inventor of the word “bobo”).

[Editor's Note: Brooks, a regular columnist for The New York Times, wrote a book in 2000 called Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper-Class and how They got There. Accoring to Brooks, a bobo is, "a bourgeois bohemian. These are the people who are thriving in the information age. They're the people, you go into their homes and they've got these renovated kitchens that are the size of aircraft hangars, with plumbing ."]

And Americans, he forecasts, won’t want to see his campaign derailed: “When an African-American is carried by an irresistible force to the White House, do you want to be the person who stands up and says: no?” Because Obama’s victory in the first round of this campaign resonates the most cherished American myths: idealism, youth, unity through diversity and new frontiers to conquer … Go Barack, go!

Next stop: New Hampshire.

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