by Vinepa Aiono
Obama's dance moves on the Ellen Degeneres TV 'talk back' show, has him perfectly poised to waltz into the White House this week. What an exciting year 2008 has been not only for USA but also the rest of the world. While it is true that I am writing as if Obama has already won the USA Presidential race, to deny that he won't is to ignore many of the political polls that place Obama in front of McCain.
If the BBC Doha debates (1 November 2008) are anything to go by, 87% rejected the motion that the Middle East would be better off with McCain at the presidential helm. Obama is perceived as one who will attempt to engage in multi-lateral discussions to sustain peaceful relationships. Whether he has the ability to do so is unknown but there is a general sense that Obama has the ability to rise to any difficult situation. Perhaps it is his sharp intellect, his likeable personality, his exceptional oratory and the fact that he is of a mixed ethnic origin that engenders us to trust him. Obama is different in every respect and the American public have had sufficient time now to absorb a new level of political consciousness that accepts a "black" president as a natural evolving process of the American politics. In that sense - Obama's slogan for "CHANGE" was not simply an attempt to gain victory over the Republican's but a slow and carefully calculated process to change the minds, values and attitudes of the American nation that a Black man could enter the White House.
The negative global economic climate, difficult international relations, the nuclear arms race in Northern Korea and Tehran's Nuclear programme contribute to a general global perception that Obama is a man for this time, where "CHANGE" is essential in the rules around international relations. This week will in Obama's words - "be the defining moment" for America when he becomes the 1st Black President of USA, President Barack Obama sounds normal to me.
