I have been watching the American elections for a few cycles now but never as closely nor nearly as obsessively as this most astonishingly riveting race. After all who needs Arsenal and Chelsea and the English premiership when one has Obama and Clinton scoring goals in the American Primary?
I acknowledge that as a citizen of a foreign nation my opinion should mean very little to those of you reading it here. However, I must ask you all to acknowledge that the repercussions of an American presidential election are very rarely confined to the sphere of an American electorate. And as proof of that fact I needn't go back any further than George Bush, Though in truth any American president can serve to prove the point nearly as well if not quite so dramatically.
As such I shall ask your indulgence in voicing my opinion on this decidedly domestic subject.
The question we in the world at large keep asking is why do Americans always choose the wrong man? In fact, after 2004 everyone in the world screamed "How one earth could they do it twice?" The answer was never clear to me until this morning (GMT).
This morning Senator Obama after an 11 straight primary wins lost the all important Texas and Ohio contests. And suddenly it was clear... Americans fear change!
Not only that, but Americans have grown past their own heritage. And by that I mean that vision of a country with civil liberties that include freedom of religion, With constitutional protections such as the separation of church and state, has come to be viewed by the American public as a noble but naive ideal. Very much in the vain of a child's fairytale, excellent as a moral guideline but not very practicable in the reality of today's morally reprehensible world.
When Obama spoke of the people helping to change Washington and perhaps return the country to the service of its citizens, he was attacked for being idealistic and his supporters delusional. Yet one of this country's most pivotal, admirable and yes pragmatic presidents voiced those same sentiments in 1865 in one of the most celebrated speeches in this county's history ... "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." . Abraham Lincoln came office with flighty rhetoric and very little experience and changed this country's destiny and the destiny of every African American born in this country since.
One could use the same argument of JFK or FDR they all possessed that soaring rhetorical inspiring presence with seemingly little more than solid character and judgment to back it up. But then again, what else do you need from a leader but the ability to inspire the people to follow and the judgment to walk the right course?
So I do not believe that the people of Ohio and Texas turned away from Obama because they did not like his policies. I think they turned because they were afraid. Afraid of this young, black, attractive man who neither looks nor speaks like any other president they've seen lately. And the fact that the Older and less educated voters are going overwhelmingly for Clinton is the most significant proof to this argument. For they are the segments who are typically the most frightened by change... the "better the devil you know" demographic portion of the population.
There are other factors ofcourse, such as information obtained via sound-bite and headline rather than investigation and study, but all that would have been overcome by the campaign reaching out to the people had the people not been too frightened to listen.
For in truth while there is much in Clintons history to render her unattractive, there is very little of that about Obama. Most people poled say they like him very well and would be happy with him as the candidate. And for a while they did vote for him until that is, they were reminded of their fears again.
Your FDR said "we have nothing to fear but fear itself". Shakespeare's take on fear, as quoted in my sig, "Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt." .
These are beautiful words I truly believe in, the question I pose is, Do You?