The US Presidential Election

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  Kunming, Yunnan, China
Wednesday, November 5, 2008

A proper entry on Yunnan will follow in the coming days, but I had to make a little note post-election.  Of all places to see the culmination of the Presidential election, the peaceful handover of power and the true voice of the people (well, I'll save my two party system is not representative rant for another day), it is quite ironic that I am in China.  

Contrary to HK, in Kunming, everyone barely speaks any English.  Still, the cab driver and hostel reception dude both commented: "You are from USA.  You have new President!"  The hostel I'm in is very western friendly, so there were tons of people gathered around watching CNN on Nov 5 and you couldn't go five minutes down the hall without someone mentioning Obama.  He absolutely destroyed McCain/Palin.  

As many of you know, I have been very critical of Obama's policies (McCain's as well) throughout the primary and general election campains, but it's great that there was a decisive victory and that there was such an immense turnout.  Many of my doubts were hinged on his limited and highly liberal track record, but as Election Day approached, he did many things to assuage those fears (and the faltering economy has done the rest to remove most of my concerns) such as arming himself with Chicago centrists as his economics team, likely keeping Gates on as Defense Secretary and likely appointing a smart centrist as Treasury Secretary.  

I think Obama the Prez will be a good one as he will hopefully be pragmatic and is an awesome leader/orator and clearly very intelligent.  In his victory speech, he said something fantastic that shows that he is patriotic and wants to help the country and the world progress and move forward: "Those whose vote I have not yet earned, I am also your President.  I need your help."  He also looked so emotionally drained and not as elated as you would think.  I think it was because of the loss of a key figure in his life, that he was overwhelmed by his accomplishment and because he realized that there is a very tough path ahead.  I am incredibly moved by the significance of Obama's victory.  While he is clearly an intelligent and qualified man to lead our country, the fact that a minority has risen to that office cannot be overstated.  It is perhaps a sad reflection on our culture that is principled on meritocracy and personal freedoms that it took so long for this to occur and that we still don't really have equal rights for all citizens, but it is a momentous and (to use the parlance of the country I am in) a Great Leap Forward as a nation. 

However, to really make this historical election and invigoration of entire generations of voters matter in the long run, we can't just sit back and let the President/Congress do all the work.  Public discourse, dialectic reasoning and support for opposing views are the engines of democracy - more than the ability to vote itself.  What I saw in the US and in every country in the world, where everyone was constantly talking about the election and the issues that matter to them, cannot just disappear and resurface four years later.  Everyone also needs to do their part to make the country the better place they want it to be.  If there's one thing that I've really taken away from the Obama hope/change campaign, it's that the time of sitting around and complaining about how effed up the world is no longer applies.  Each person has to roll up our sleeves and do what they feel is necessary in the spirit of the Gandhian vision of using small changes to turn the world upside down.  Obama has repeatedly stated that this election is not about him, but about us and he is right; what transpired over the last two years is much bigger than him and a Presidential election happened to be a conduit for renewed public interest and activism (after all he will be gone in a max of 8 years).

Let's all rejoice that we have until Jan 19 before the criminal and his more criminal VP are gone and pray to whatever gods you believe (or don't believe) in that the Obama Administration will be a successful one and America will be a less cynical and more progressive place. 

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