Vivid lesson of democracy
The United States has not lost its ability to teach the entire world lessons of democracy, in spite of financial shocks and two wars that America is waging in Iraq and Afghanistan. The recent presidential elections have become another lesson of this kind in that they showed the country’s true commitment to the ideals of democracy and proved that the world-known American dream is still alive.
Hardly anyone could imagine, even during the previous presidential election campaign, that an African American would become the next president of the USA. On Nov. 4, 2008, this dream came true for African American Barack Obama who last year set his sights on this office without having any support of the Democratic Party. At first he won in a rather complicated and prolonged struggle against Sen. Hillary Clinton to be nominated by the Democratic Party as its candidate for presidency.
On Nov. 4 Barack Obama won in a landslide victory over John McCain, a Republican senator and a hero of the Vietnam war. According to the polls, 52 percent voters cast their votes for Obama, while 47 percent, for McCain. As a result, Obama received 349 electoral votes, whereas McCain gets 163. In US presidential elections the candidate who gains at least 270 votes out of 538 becomes the winner.
It is remarkable that voting in these presidential elections proved that Americans “have matured.” Many observers were worried that the “Bradley effect” could operate during the elections, bringing the victory to the white American, rather than the African American candidate who is leading the polls as it happened during local elections. In 1982 the African American mayor of Los Angeles Tom Bradley ran for the California governor’s office and unexpectedly lost to his white opponent, although all the polls had predicted a six-percent victory for him. But, as it turned out, respondents simply did not want to show their racial hostility.
Obama had no doubts about the American democracy. “If there is anyone out there ... who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,” he said in his speech. Thanking his associates, he admitted that he will need their help in the future. “This victory alone is not the change we seek — it is only the chance for us to make that change,” Obama said.
McCain should be given his due for congratulating Obama on the victory after he learned that he was losing according to the exit polls. “I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love,” he said speaking before his supporters.
Now Obama is being showered with greetings from the world leaders. For some of them, in particular for French President Nicolas Sarkozy his “brilliant victory is a reward for his desire to unceasingly serve the American people.” Meanwhile, President of the EU Commission Jose Manuel Barroso believes that “we should turn today’s crisis into new opportunities. We need a new course in relations between Europe and the US for the new world.”
For many other leaders, including Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, “Obama’s victory is a source of inspiration. What seemed to be impossible becomes possible.” Meanwhile, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev expressed his hope that “the new American administration will choose the course of creating full-fledged relations with Russia.”
Obama will start fulfilling his duties after the inauguration ceremony on Jan. 20, 2009. Many countries have already started studying the phenomenon of the African American’s success, his fundraising methods, use of new information technology, and the Internet.
COMMENTARIES
Hans-Jurgen HEIMSOETH, Ambassador of Germany to Ukraine:
“I think that Obama’s election is positive for the world and democracy. This is a very clear demonstration of America’s democracy. I believe Obama is a very intelligent man. It will be good if he turns out to be as brilliant a politician as he is an orator, which was proved by the election campaign. It is good that he mentioned the spirit of responsibility and sacrifice. This is what all we need now during the world financial crisis. I am very satisfied that the US has elected Obama.
“Will he manage to bring about the changes he has been talking about all the time? Probably, he will, but not everything he wants, perhaps. He is truly a person who is capable of changing things. He has promised changes, so there will be some. I am sure that everything will develop in the right direction. These elections are also important for Ukraine. They prove that cynicism has not won. One can always change something in democracy, if necessary. This politician is without cynicism, and this is what Ukraine needs.
“As for possible changes in US attitude to Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations, both McCain and Obama support the development of democracy in Ukraine. And this is good for Ukraine. I know that most Germans are satisfied with the results of the US elections. Most of them supported Obama.
“As for giving Ukraine a NATO Membership Action Plan in connection with Obama’s victory, this question is not on the agenda at the moment.”
Christer Michelsson, Ambassador of Finland to Ukraine:
“As U.S. President-elect Barack Obama said, it is very important that people have said their word. These are fair results of the elections. The American people have elected their leader.
“As for the meaning of these elections, it is important that the US and Europe work together on the problems they are facing now. There are many problems, in particular climate changes and fighting terrorism, which cannot be resolved independently by Europe, America, China, or Russia. We need to cooperate.
“From the point of view of Finland, as an EU-member state, we are optimistic about our future cooperation with the new American administration.”
The Day’S FACT FILE
Barack Hussein Obama, Jr., a US Senator from Illinois and a member of the Democratic Party, was born on Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu, the capital of Hawaii. His father Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., came to the US from Kenya to study economics. His mother Ann Stanley Dunham, a white American, studied anthropology. Obama’s parents divorced when he was two years old. His father moved to Harvard to continue his studies and later returned to Kenya. Ann Dunham married an Indonesian student. In 1976 Obama moved to Indonesia, and in 1980 he returned to Hawaii where he graduated from a private school.
After school he studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles. He then moved to Columbia College from which he graduated in 1983. In 1991 he graduated from the Harvard Law School. After completing his studies, he returned to Chicago and worked for nine years in a law firm specializing civil rights litigation. At the same time he taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School.
In 1996 Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate from the Democratic Party. In 2004 he ran for a vacant seat in the Senate of the US Congress and managed to collect 70 percent of the votes. He was the fifth African American Senator in US history.
In February 2007, Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States and was officially nominated at the Democratic National Convention in 2008 along with Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate.
In 2005 Time magazine called Obama one of the most influential people in the world and the British New Statement magazine mentioned him among 10 people who are “able to stun the world.”
Barack Obama has authored two books: in 1995 he published the book of memoirs Dreams from My Father and in 2006, The Audacity of Hope.
Since 1992 Obama has been married to Michelle Robinson Obama, a practicing lawyer. They have two daughters—Malia Ann and Sasha. He belongs to the community of the United Church of Christ, which he joined as an adult. Obama says that basketball and poker are his main hobbies.
