This coming week will see a conclusion of some sort to the much reverting and enthralling Democratic Party primary presidential contest in the United States of America. Like many people around the globe, I have followed with great interest and excitement the see-saw contest between Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama for the right to represent their party in the November presidential elections. After Super Tuesday way back in February and for a few weeks thereafter it seemed Obama was unstoppable. Then came the bit about Reverend Jeremy Wright and the momentum was lost momentarily. Clinton was back fighting tenaciously and throwing every punch in the book at Obama to try and wrest the initiative. Then she was tangled up in her own spider-web after claims of dodging sniper fire in Bosnia were exposed as untrue or “misspeak” (in her own words). Then it was game on once again.
I admire the American democratic process. It allows anyone who has a good message to have a shot at the most important and powerful job in the world, the presidency of the United States of America and the combatants in the current contest are a true reflections of this. Regardless of who triumphs in this primary and ultimately in December, one of the two Democratic Party antagonists will be making history - one as the first ever female president of the United States and the other as the first ever black (or non-white) president. Even the Republican Party candidate, John McCain, will write himself a piece of history as the oldest person to be elected president if, of course, he goes on to capture the crown.
A lot has been said about Clinton being part of a dynasty that wishes to perpetuate its rule over the American people but it should never be forgotten that the people are still making a choice of their own free will. And Clinton has worked extremely hard to remain in the race and to try and claim the right to be the representative candidate. The numbers are not on her side and although she might have gained some momentum, it is now probably a question of too little too late. Some people may say that the lengthy contest has been harmful to the Democratic Party’s chances come November, but I don’t buy that argument. I think the contest has been good for the party. It has strengthened the resolve of both candidates and honed in their skills.
Current polls show that either of the Democratic Party candidates will beat McCain in November although with slim margins. Once the nomination is finalised and the Democratic Party machinery starts firing in one direction, I suspect that the margin is going to widen considerably. By November, the race could well have been decided even before the first ballot is cast. No, I am not biased against McCain, I just think that the Republicans under President Bush have made themselves almost as unelectable as the Labour Party has now become in the UK and as Zanu-PF under Robert Mugabe is in Zimbabwe. It would take some real monumental lapses on the part of the Democratic Party candidate to hand the election to the Republicans.
But I must confess that I am biased towards the candidacy of Obama. He is a most exciting politician with a fantastic personality and absolutely fabulous ideas. I am currently reading his book, The Audacity of Hope, and I find a lot of his ideas very plausible. His campaign has been about change and his ascendancy to the highest office would represent a really true and defining change in the American political system and its national psyche. In a piece which I wrote earlier this year, I observed that an Obama presidency would be good for Africa but I am now persuaded to take this a bit further – his presidency would be good for the world. Here are my reasons.
Obama is the only candidate who has come out with a clear and unequivocal message that he will put a stop to America’s war in Iraq. I believe that this war was justified and necessary to remove a brutal and dangerous dictator. I should add that I would support a similar effort to remove Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. But the job in Iraq is now done and the Americans should go home and let the Iraqis sort their mess out. If another dictator comes in, by all means, they can return and do another “Saddam”. However, as it stands now America’s continued presence in Iraq is poisoning its international relationships and reputation as a leader of the free world.
Obama is the only candidate who has demonstrated an appetite for dialogue and peacemaking in the world. He has not come out as a trigger happy cowboy prepared to stay the course in Iraq (as McCain is promising) or to pulverise Iran (as Clinton has declared). Obama has proposed negotiating with America’s enemies like Iran, Syria and Cuba and others around the world. This is a most desirable position to take in that it recognises that America cannot use its military and economic might to subdue all its enemies. If Obama can deliver on his peace promise, then his presidency might be one in which America may not be fighting any war anywhere and with anyone.
Finally, Obama may just be the person to unite America and the world. He has shown an interest in taking a more bi-partisan approach to American politics and is reaching out to the left as well as the right and to democrats and to republicans. His presidency may very well help to heal the rifts caused by the present polarising party politics. He also seems to be well liked, if not adored, internationally – he certainly has a big following in Africa among many of my friends and contemporaries. I believe that this ability is only unique to him among the present presidential contestants – I see a tiny bit of that in McCain but certainly not in Clinton.
However all these are just musings - I will not be voting in America in November so who I favour and why I favour them may not matter one jot. But I think that there are some lessons to be learnt from this for Africa. In April my country went to vote for a new president but the results remained unknown for more than a month and when they were eventually announced the results suggested a need for a rerun because no candidate had achieved the desired majority. One was left wondering why it took so long to announce if the results were so obvious. The country is gearing up for a rerun in June but so far there has been little or nothing about the issues that need to be confronted – a collapsed economy, non-existent public services, etc. All there has been is bad news about violence being perpetrated against the voters by supporters of the ruling party.
Why can we not have peaceful elections in which the candidates present themselves and their issues to the voters and allow the voters to make their free choices? Just imagine what would happen if Clinton and Obama supporters were fighting and killing each other in the course of their campaign. Imagine if George Bush had ordered the US army to be deployed to American rural areas to campaign for McCain and to intimidate and punish the Democratic Party candidates and supporters. Why do these things happen in Africa and why do we let it happen? If you can figure it out, please let me know.
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