The Hindu Business Line : All set to make history

Mr Obama’s is a more charismatic and dynamic personality, his comparative youth lending weight to his promise of changing both the substance and style of the functioning of the Government in Washington.

It looks like there’s no stopping Senator Barack Obama from making history as the first African-American to become the President of the US. He is way ahead of his Republican rival, Senator John McCain, in polls.

That is a tribute not only to his spectacular success in capturing the imagination of the people by waging the most brilliant campaign, but as much a tribute to the American people who have held American democracy aloft as an exemplar of an inclusive society. It is in a magnificent sense the full flowering of the American dream.

Those who watched the three debates between the two candidates had no hesitation in declaring Senator Obama the winner in all the three. He was calm, cool and composed under provocation, an essential quality for the President who will be called upon to handle complex contingencies and grave threats without flinching.

While Senator McCain was fuzzy on matters that are of serious concern to most Americans, Sen Obama was able to impress with his precise formulations and clear-cut exposition of his views.

Republican ideology

The greatest handicap of Sen McCain was his inability to jettison the baggage of the Republican ideology that is widely perceived to favour the rich and pander to big business at the expense of the average American.

This was despite his invoking the vision of Joe, the plumber, in the third debate and despite his Vice-Presidential choice, Governor Sarah Palin’s likening herself in her speeches to Joe Six Pack, the American version of the aam aadmi.

By contrast, Sen Obama came through as an effective champion of the middle class and the disadvantaged, by proposing a set of policies which must have resonated with the common run of his compatriots.

In general, Mr Obama’s is a more charismatic and dynamic personality, his comparative youth (he is only 47) lending weight to his promise of changing both the substance and style of the functioning of the Government in Washington.

Serious doubts

By far, the greatest asset of Sen Obama is his running mate, Mr Joe Biden, a six term Senator, with 36 years of legislative experience, who is also the Chairperson of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

He is universally respected for his political savvy and his undoubted skill in building bipartisan consensus on contentious issues. He will be a great source of sagacious counsel for Mr Obama.

As both The Washington Post and the former Secretary of State, Gen Colin Powell, have observed, while strongly endorsing Sen Obama for presidency, a Barack Obama Administration is sure to benefit from the brains trust of a number of experts reputed for their high calibre and great competence assembled by the Democratic ticket.

Mr McCain has raised serious doubts about his judgment by choosing as his Vice-Presidential candidate, Ms Sarah Palin, who has become an object of derision for her fumbling on matters of great public importance.

‘Bradley effect’

Of course, there are those who raise the bogey of ‘Bradley effect’ to argue that the seeming support for a candidate can evaporate at the time the voters press the button in polling booths.

The phenomenon takes its name from the debacle that overtook Mr Tom Bradley, a Black, who ran in 1982 for the Governor of California against a white republican candidate and all polls cast him as a sure winner by a large margin.

Somehow, in their subconscious, the white voters could not bring themselves to vote for a Black, and Mr Bradley lost. Postal ballots and the undecided voters put paid to Mr Bradley’s prospects.

A repetition of the effect is extremely unlikely as the current of opinion against Mr McCain is very strong.

B. S. RAGHAVAN