In the end it was not a close run thing at all, as was being predicted. US President Barack Obama won quite emphatically, getting 11 more of the Electoral College votes than the 270 he needed to win. Everyone will be relieved at the continuity. He might not have distinguished himself either in the management of the economy or of the country’s geo-political affairs in the four years that he led the world’s most powerful democracy. But at least, he is a known commodity, in contrast to Mitt Romney. When in times of trouble, the Americans turn to the Democrats, who tend to be more proactive with government intervention on their behalf. There are simply too many uncertainties around for them to have preferred a jerky change in US policies at this stage. Obama’s victory also conforms to the normal American trend that each of the two parties, having won the presidency, carries on for two terms. Anti-incumbency is rarely seen in the US the first time around. What now has to be seen is if Obama will be able to revive the US economy, especially now that the worst is over for it. His immediate challenge is to get American corporations, who are sitting on mountains of cash, to start investing again. Once that process begins, the fiscal problems will begin to look more manageable. It will, of course, take a long time, but at least a beginning would have been made. He inherited a collapsing economy, and it would be in the fitness of things were he to leave behind a thriving one four years from now.
It is not just the American people who will breathe easy. The rest of the world was also bracing for Romney whose methods, at least as outlined by him during the election campaign, were tinged with aggressive intent. Whether it was China and its currency policy or Iran and its nuclear intransigence or the Afghan mess, or even the Euro Zone crisis, Romney would have rocked the boat, ruffled feathers and made peaceful solutions harder. Worse, he would probably not have achieved the desired results. Obama’s strength is that he does not use rough-and-ready methods as Romney seemed likely to.
For India, Obama’s re-election is good news, or at least better news than if Romney had won. Like the rest of the world, it has got used to him and his style. Whether it is trade issues or differences over investment policies, or Pakistan or Afghanistan, or even China, under Obama the US has generally been more accommodative of Indian needs and sensibilities. This has been especially true of terrorism emanating from Pakistan and that country's nuclear postures. True, Iran remains a problem in bilateral relations as do Mode 4 issues (movement of people as factors of production). But under Obama things have not come to a head and problems have been resolved without fuss.