Avalon

Now we see.. America

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

232 years since independence, America welcomed their first Black president. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech finally materialised after his 45th year anniversary.

Actually, the fact that there is so much hype over this news (I mean it was half as exciting when George W.Bush was elected 8 years ago) probably still hints at the presence of racism, but it is definitely a great start. After all Obama won through the collective strength "from an array of racially mixed, growing areas around cities like Orlando, Washington, Indianapolis, and Columbus on his way to at least 334 electoral votes." (Ben Smith, Jonathan Martin)

In rather colloquial terms, the fates were smiling at him. He had the circumstances on his side. America is going through a tough time and the people need the change. I don't know whether I should draw parallels to the results of the Taiwan elections earlier this year when Ma Ying-jeou won the elections as well, ending the 8 years of Democratic Progressive Party rule and scored a victory for the Kuomintang. Sociologist Max Weber is probably proven correct when he expressed confidence that the charisma of a leader will be able to direct changes in history.

But fast-forward a couple of months, Taiwan is busily distracted by Chen Shui-bian's alleged money laundering scandal and President Ma is facing the many challenges and struggling to deliver what he promised prior to the elections. His hope of having a cross-strait peace accord reached with China during his term is rife with difficulties, what with persistent opposition from supporters of Taiwanese independence, and the recent riots when he visited China.

Newly-elected Obama will not have it easy as well. The 5 challenges identified will include 1) Promoting cohesion and consensus between the two parties. 2) Regaining market confidence 3) Resolving the financial meltdown, doing something about the deleveraging of America 4) Avoiding the increment in taxes 5) Maintaining his perseverance. Of course he will also have to clean up after Bush, taking over the outstanding debts America have been sitting on, and the messed-up foreign policies.

Apparently, there is indeed a reason for possessing the audacity of hope. "His victory was powered by a new face of America: comprised of all ethnicities, hailing mostly from cities and suburbs, largely under 40 years old, and among all income classes." 占尽天时地利人和的情况下，奥巴马的胜利其实也是一种大势所趋。是美国人对世界存在的“美国是否能接受黑人总统”这项疑问所作出的答案。The funny thing is the small town of Obama in Japan rejoiced as namesake won presidency. 华人的说法，就是沾光吧。

For a country that has always emphasised and symbolised democracy, freedom and equality, we now see... America.

References:
Ben Smith, Jonathan Martin, "Why Obama Won", 5 Nov2008
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/15301?full

Envoy of the Stars @ 10:38 PM
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