I STARTED admiring Barack Obama for one trait over and above his impressive academic, political and moral qualifications to be President of the United States. It was his guts, his impossible guts. The position he was seeking had for the past 219 years been occupied by 42 white Americans, without a single exception even temporarily. And here he was, a black American?now more respectfully called an African-American?asking the white-dominated American nation to break that respected tradition by making him their new leader, a black man for the first time in the White House.
Incredible? It was presumptuous! But more than that it was courageous. This uncommon black person whose ancestors must have lived and died in the cotton fields of the South or as domestic or menial workers in the North had risen from his modest beginnings to be a credit to his race. Perhaps it was precisely the color of his skin that made him strive to be equal to or even better than his contemporaries, a compulsion that made him seek higher goals and made him a lawyer with exceptional credentials from Harvard. It was here that his political convictions were sharpened for his civic legal work in Chicago, his stint in the legislature in his home state of Illinois, and his later election to the United State Senate.
From there, too soon perhaps because he had just begun to warm his seat in his new post and here he was already taking his first tentative steps, like a baby learning to walk, to the highest office in the land. Too soon, and too presumptuous again, for the Democratic Party where he belonged had practically chosen its next presidential candidate for 2008 with no visible or probable rival nominee. This was Sen. Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton?s First Lady, no mean politician in her own right who would put up a tough fight against any Republican opponent, and win.
Senator Clinton must have been nonplused by the brash interest in their party?s nomination from a generally still unknown Barack Obama who seemed to have come from the hustings compared to her sophisticated domains in New York and Washington D.C. This wonderment soon turned to concern when he began besting her in many primaries, starting with Iowa, where he said later he would have withdrawn if he had lost there. As Election Day drew nearer, he went back to the people of that state to thank them for giving him the support that made him decide not to give up.
He conducted his campaign with perfect civility, without name-calling or mud-slinging, and faced up to the issues boldly and categorically. The consensus was that he won all the three presidential debates where in addition to his familiarity with the topics raised, he exhibited poise and equanimity, with humility rather than bravura. He kept cool and collected and did not allow himself to be drawn into a cheap verbal brawl by the temperamental Sen. John McCain. He was also tastefully dressed and carried his clothes well. And lest it be forgotten, the crowds he drew during his sorties included voters from many races, not only his own, and in fact, a great number of American whites wisely ignoring the candidate?s color.
I watched the proceedings in America on Election Day on Nov. 4 as televised here on Nov. 5 (we are one day ahead of the United States at least on the calendar) and felt glad like the rest of my family when it was announced that Obama had won the election, polling 338 electoral votes against McCain?s 163 with only 270 needed to win. I was especially pleased when Senator McCain graciously conceded the victory of ?my former opponent who will now be my President,? and the winner responded in kind when he spoke in his victory speech that same night of McCain?s outstanding record as a great American.
Obama?s choice of Sen. Joe Biden was propitious because the latter will now as vice president be the presiding officer of the Senate, where he has many friends from his own long service in that chamber as an expert in foreign affairs. But McCain?s selection of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate was received with mixed feelings because of her middling grasp of national problems, let alone her many gaffes like her interview by Katie Couric, who later said that ?she?s about as intelligent as me, but that doesn?t amount to much,? or words to that effect. She is a pretty lady and could probably begin a new career in a television show called ?Saturday Night Dead.?
One delightful thing about last Tuesday?s election was the release of its results before the end of that same day, some not yet official but later confirmed as correct. The questioned Gore-Bush presidential election held on Nov. 7, 2000 even reached the Supreme Court and was finally resolved only on Dec. 13, to end the nation?s suspense. In 1916, by contrast, President Woodrow Wilson went to bed on Election Day thinking he had lost his re-election bid but was surprised when he awoke the next morning to learn that he had won.
It takes much longer to learn the election results in our more relaxed country. Up to now, we don?t know who really won the presidential election in 2004.
