The American presidential election (60)

Barack Obama has only one bigger fan here in London and that’s Karin Robinson who leads the Obama in London campaign. You can read her latest comments on the candidate here.
The big difference between Karin and me is that as an American she actually has a vote. Of course, if the world citizenry was voting in this election, Obama would win by a landslide. This underlines two points:
1) This is an election with global consequences – the outcome will affect all nations and all citizens
2) One of the reasons why Obama is not walking the election is because most Americans do not have a world view of politics.


One Comment

  • Russ

    Hey Roger,
    You write: ‘One of the reasons why Obama is not walking the election is because most Americans do not have a world view of politics.’
    In a previous post you suggested race played a role as well (even though multiple polls show ageism, sexism and religious bigotry are bigger problems). Another one I often hear is that the American media is incredibly biased as well.
    Don’t you think it is possible that many Americans might not want to vote for Obama for reasons other than their racist views or parochial or misinformed nature? And similarly, don’t you think some Obama supporters are voting for him based on racist views and/or a limited world view? Why would you assume the undesirable traits you identify would only be shared by one group of voters and not otherwise spread equally amongst the population?
    I am leaning towards Obama, but I do think it insults people to claim they would surely support a certain candidate only if they were a bit smarter or urbane. Every time I talk politics or policy with people, I see that even smart people will often disagree.
    There are things about Obama that trouble me, principally his leaning towards protectionism in trade matters. Others look at him as a bit of an empty suit — that troubles me too. He tends to talk in grand, albeit inspiring generalities. I guess what I am saying is that there are many reasons one might oppose him other than race or stupidity.
    You aren’t giving Americans enough credit for diverse thought and opinion. We did build a pretty decent civil society, didn’t we?
    Take care,
    Russ

 




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