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ShareAs America feels good about itself with its first ever (half) African-American Presidential candidate and the world watches the long-winded pre-electoral process with fascination, a few random thoughts about what we have all learnt about the US and its politics so far:
1. Race matters a lot: This is self-evident, considering that no one but a white male has ever become president of the most powerful nation on earth so far, but the mere fact of an African-American hopeful has exposed all the racial faultlines of the oldest democracy. For over two centuries whites dominated the national political scene; the merest hint of a non-white got everyone worked up. This is not strange in a country where racism is still an every day fact and till less than five decades ago, institutionalised racial segregation was practiced.
Even Hilary Clinton was not above playing the race card. Already there are fears being expressed that Obama could be assassinated.
2.Religion matters too: Though the US has taken pains to separate church from state, religion plays a big role in society. Every political figure has to make it clear that he/she is strongly religious; church affiliations are a must. Obama, whose father was a Muslim, had to fight a double battle of race and religion. He had to go out of his way to emphasise his Christianity. Atheists would simply have no chance.
3. The C word: Americans claim theirs is a truly classless society, in that upward mobility is possible, theoretically speaking, to every American. But the levers of power are firmly in the hand of the upper classes (economic and intellectual.) The three Presidential candidates came from reasonably well settled backgrounds and went to elite educational institutions. George W Bush may try and assume an aw shucks, ordinary Joe persona, but he had a privileged upbringing and went to Yale (as did Hillary Clinton.) Obama went to
Columbia and Harvard. But any attempt to look elitist or patrician can rebound badly, as Obama found out when he made some off the cuff remarks about what the ordinary American was thinking. Since then he has (like the others) trying to declass himself, rolling up his sleeves and drinking beer with the boys (and pretending he loves it.)
4. Communities think alike: Or are perceived to think alike and this is how they are wooed. Hillary has the Hispanics and old white women sewn up, while Obama has pulled in the blacks and liberal and educated whites. McCain has much of "middle America" behind him. This of course has exceptions, but generally, these assumptions drive campaign propaganda. Naturally this leads to a lot of community pandering and 'minority appeasement,' which we in India are familiar with.
5. Optics count a lot: This is something that politicians all over the world realise, which is why they spend a lot of time on how they look and how they come across to the television viewer (who is also the voter.) Obama's youthfulness and open face or Clinton's hairstyle or McCain's age assume more importance than their policies.
6. The internet is the way of the future: A lesson each and every politician should take to heart. Till this election, no major politician anywhere had exploited the worldwide web. Barack Obama saw the potential of websites, chatrooms, blogs and most of all, social networking sites and went whole hog for them. In comparison, his opponents were so last century. Sooner than later we will see this in India too, though the BJP has already shown some understanding of the tech world.
7. Obama's election may not necessarily be good for India: George W Bush turned out to be the most India-inclined US president ever. But an American President has domestic preoccupations and a large international canvas to think about. He does not spend his waking moments planning to improve bilateral relations with India. In any case, India represents more than merely good economic opportunities; it is also seen as a job stealer because of outsourcing. The next president will have to worry about the American economy and if it means coming down on outsourcing to save US jobs, will do so. He may not be so enthralled with the Indo-US nuclear deal which could then die.
History shows that India has had better relations with Republicans than Democrats.
Email: sidharth01@dnaindia.net
