I have been writing to some of my friends overseas for an international perspective on the election. Aussie ex-pat living in Thailand Ian Slater and I have bounced back and forth a bit over the last couple days. I wrote him this email today. I liked it, and I think it says a lot of what I am thinking about the whole thing, in very general terms. As I am too lazy to really write anything for the blog itself, I'll just copy and paste this email.
Slates--
Thanks for the thoughtful reply.
I didn't think it was possible that I could become as obsessed with any mainstream media event as I was with the Olympics, but, perhaps because the consequences are so great, I've been pretty much glued to this election coverage. Because of that, I could probably write several hundred screens here. I'll try to keep my thoughts in check, and then maybe go type something up for the blog.
Anyway, getting into it . . .
I generally believe that a lot of people vote from a fairly narrow perspective. The obvious one there is the pro-lifers, who would rather set fire to an ob/gyn's office than vote for a pro-choicer. Haha. You have your death penalty people, your NRA enthusiasts, etc., who vote for candidates based on those single issues.
Having lived overseas for so long, I've figured out that the motivation behind my vote is, largely, how the candidates a) view the rest of the world and b) are perceived by the rest of the world. Which, incidentally, is why I wrote to you and a handful of my other non-American friends for thoughts. I just wanted to confirm my suspicions that, yes, the majority of the rest of the world wholeheartedly supports Obama. (By the way, I trust there was no question in your mind that I am an Obama supporter.)
Saying something like "I cast my vote largely on how the candidate is perceived by the rest of the world" would no doubt get me in hot water with your standard middle American. In fact, it has before. But what I try to explain to people is that it's not so much that I am swayed by the opinion of the rest of the world, it's just that I realize that our world is so small, the value placed on our choice president so great, that I think the wrong choice by the American people can potentially reflect so badly on us and our government that I think it can actually harm us more than we even realize. Putting a guy like McCain in office tells the rest of the world that we are more or less ok with how the country has been run, both inside and out, for the last 8 years. It tells the world that we are looking for a fight. It tells the world that we are going to put our interests first, militarily and financially, and that you better get the hell out of our way. Putting the wrong guy in office can hurt us economically, can charge up terrorists, can make small countries with cowboy leaders like North Korea and Iran want to step up and get in our face. Is that making America safe? Is that protecting American interests? Is that helping our economy? I think not.
I am all for a strong America. But I think you don't have to be a bully to be strong. To take it one step further, bullies are usually bullies because they are hiding some deep-seated insecurity or weakness. And, anyway, what usually happens to bullies? They get knocked on their ass, usually by somebody much smaller.
At this point, I think that the only people who still believe that America is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the military and economic world are a small few Americans. The rest of us realize that our economy is weak, our dollar is sagging, and all of the guns in the world just aren't strong enough to win wars anymore. Perhaps we need a different approach.
There is strength in understanding, diplomacy, compassion. Obama represents those things.
Now, like you said, whether Obama has the ability or capacity to deliver on these things remains to be seen. That is definitely part of the intrigue of this election for me. And I'm sure if you ask even the staunchest Obama supporters who have fallen for him hook, line, and sinker, even they will admit, deep down, that they really have no clue if he's going to be able to accomplish what he says he's going to accomplish.
You know what, though? I'm willing to take that risk.
Or, to put it as a friend of the family put it the other day, "It's all bullshit. But I'm willing to buy Obama's line of bullshit over McCain's line of bullshit." You could probably apply that line to any election, anywhere, when you get right down to it.
One final thing. You mentioned that bit about Kennedy being unqualified, a fraud. First off, Jesus Mary & Joseph, don't let my mother hear you say that. She'd swoon.
I think a lot of other people, Americans and non-Americans, would also take umbrage to that statement. Why? Well, not necessarily because Kennedy was . . . . Kennedy. (One of the talking heads the other day said, in reference to comparisons between Barack and JFK, "Even Kennedy wasn't Kennedy." I liked that.) Anyway, getting back on track, in the world of politics today, perception is reality. It IS all bullshit. Beauracracy is so slow, the global economy is so big, world events are so out of control, that, unless a guy is extraordinarily bad, as Bush is, it would be hard for a single person anywhere on the planet, even the president of the United States of America, to fuck the world up completely. By the same token, unless he is some sort of diety, it would be hard for a president to heal all the wounds of the world. While people get pretty passionate about Barack, I don't think anybody believes that he's going to step in there and every problem is going to magically disappear.
But having said all that, I think people WANT to believe in this guy. He inspires people. He makes people want to do good. He makes people want to work to heal the problems. He makes people want to repair America's reputation in the world, he makes people want to search for solutions to environmental problems, he makes people want to search for solutions to economic problems. And that, for me, is enough. I am an optimist, and as trite as it might sound, I believe in the goodness of people, and I believe in the goodness and strength of the American people. Do I think Barack Obama can singlehandedly accomplish all that he says he is going to accomplish? Of course not. But do I believe that he can move people's hearts and minds? Yes, I do. We've had plenty of the moving of physical things these last 8 years, and not enough of moving of intangibles. I think people sense that, and I think that's why he's become so popular.
McCain is promising change, to shake Washington up. But what I think he's missing is that it's way, way beyond Washington. It's bigger than Washington, bigger than politics. Perhaps he can bring about some change in the way the governing of this country is conducted, but I don't think that's enough. He needs to bring about change in the attitudes of this country, and change in the way we view the rest of the world. Obama understands this on levels that he just doesn't get.
So there ya go, Slates. I think it got a little out of hand on me. I hope you're still reading.
I miss Thailand. Have a frosty Leo (or whatever your beer of choice is these days) for me.
peace--
RV
