The Hindu Business Line : All eyes on the US!

The US being the world's richest and the most powerful country, anything happening there tickles the attention of the people of the rest of the world. Presidential elections there have always exercised a fascination of their own.

This is because of the Americans' peculiar penchant for making them the greatest show on earth, with hundreds of millions of dollars being spent like water on holding conventions for nomination of candidates on a spectacular scale.

Even by these standards, no presidential election after the Second World War has caught the imagination of the world to such a great extent as the current one. In the past, the momentum used to pick up from the stage of the nomination of candidates, with the politically conscious public keeping an eye on the goings-on until the results were announced. The run-up to the nomination in the form of primaries was taken in their stride both by the people and the media.

But this time, the interest roused from the very first primary is phenomenal. The scores of the contenders for Democratic party nomination, Ms Hillary Clinton and Mr Barack Obama, dominate the lead stories in print and electronic media.

This is easily explained: Both are firsts in the 230 year-long history of the US. Ms Clinton's is the case of double first: She is the first woman aspirant for the presidency, and the first former First Lady to contest.

Mr Obama, a first time senator, is the first African American to break into a white citadel and make such a stunning showing, overtaking Ms Clinton in the number of delegates.

It must have been a bitter pill to swallow for Ms Clinton who had a popular and articulate ex-President as the husband canvassing for her, and who was herself a household-name and a white American in a white dominated country.

That Mr Obama has managed to overcome all these disadvantages and begun to look like being winnable is a tribute alike to his own charismatic personality and to the broadmindedness and inclusiveness of the people of the US.

He has already received the coveted public support of the influential Ted Kennedy and Elizabeth Moynihan, wife of the former Senator from New York, Daniel Moynihan. Whoever wins the race for the White House, will be creating history.

WINNER IS..!

The whole US electoral scene is well worth watching by India's politicos. Even while trading occasional verbal barbs, the contestants have taken care not to cross the limits of decency.

Indeed, they have exuded plenty of good humour towards each

other on public platforms. Transpose the situation to India with stakes equally high.

The candidates will be tearing into each other in unparliamentary language, and their supporters and hangers-on would be painting the neighbourhood red with murder and mayhem.

The mainstream US print and electronic media has also been absolutely balanced in reporting and display, not only as between Ms Clinton and Mr Obama, but also as among the hopefuls of both Democratic and Republican parties. However, there is a media tradition in the US of endorsing candidates who, thereby, start off with a distinct, though not necessarily decisive, advantage.

The powerful New York Times has already put its weight behind Ms Clinton, while the New York Post has editorially praised Mr Obama as representing "a fresh start", describing Ms Clinton and her husband, as standing for "d‚j… vu all over again - a return to the opportunistic, scandal-scarred, morally muddled years of the almost infinitely self-indulgent Clinton co-presidency".

On the Republican side, Mr John McCain, as of now, is the only contender in the field. Ms Clinton or Mr Obama, on the one side, and Mr McCain, on the other: who is going to win the world's biggest prize? Is there any doubt, folks? The winner is....!

B.S. RAGHAVAN