Friday, August 29, 2008

Obama mania

Just now finished watching the Democratic nomination acceptance speech of Barack Obama. As he has done always, it was delivered to perfection, inspired the crowd and laid out the points very clearly. I cannot imagine how Obama wont be the next president of America. Other than the hard core 20% Bush backers, everybody else can agree unequivocally that the last 8 years has been a disaster with very few positive things to pick from. So, how can anybody vote for McCain/Palin instead of the Obama/Biden ticket which in spite of their assurances will only give four more years of the same type of approach and policies? This is especially true with regards to foreign policy where there is a lot of right winged vested interests in maintaining the status quo.

But for some reason the American people seem to be not sure about this as the polls as of now (end Aug) indicate a virtual tie. How can this be? Is it really because of Obamas inexperience or is the deeply ingrained racial prejudice of playing a part here? It cannot be the policies for sure because what Obama is proposing is far more attractive and energetic than McCains. Results either way is going to cause interesting dynamics in America.

If Obama wins, it will be the first black President with many many challenges. How will he perform will be the main question as the expectations are so high. He will be under a very very large microscope for all of his term, that is for sure.

If Obama loses, America has to face its own racial prejudice. No amount of trying to analyze why McCain won will suffice as the big bear in the room will always be racial intolerance. The only way Obama loses is because of Americans inability to accept a black president.

Its going to be one interesting election year in 2008! and in my opinion very very critical for America's future.