Barack Obama’s Incredible Run and a Hope

Two years ago not many has heard of the freshman Senator Barack Obama. Now he is the incoming US President. When I first heard about his run I thought he was just an ambitious politician aiming to put his name on the map in the hope that it will help in a future run. After all, many politicians in the US used this ploy.

I did not think he would win the Democratic primaries. Many contenders quit after a few months when funds dry up and some even quit the campaign trail in debt. I also did not think he was capable of outlasting Senator Hillary Clinton who also happened to be the wife of a formidable and popular former President who was functioning as her quarterback and adviser.

When he became the Democratic party nominee he was already the llamado (odds-on favorite). He stumbled for a while but then he recovered quickly to beat the Republican candidate who was clobbered by the US economic crisis and who did not help himself by making the watched-for gaffes.

I hope Barack Obama’s incredible run continues into the Oval Office. The world certainly needs it because it is facing a crisis of historic proportions and it is in the US where it all started. The solutions need to be found in the US and not anywhere else.

I also hope that Barack Obama will become a US president that can connect with the outside world (unlike his predecessor who sneer at it). The unipolar world and bi-polar world has ceased long ago and it is time for the US to listen and pay attention to the opinion and concerns of other countries and not only look after its own strategic interests.

This plea is not about begging for pittance or pats in the back. The US should begin to realize that it makes a big portion of its profits outside their borders and this contributes to her prosperity. The US should disabuse itself that its investments abroad are the engines of the other nations’ prosperity. They invested for profit, no more, no less and all altruistic pretense should simply be dropped.

If the US will only understand that other nations contribute to their prosperity maybe they will become more graceful and engaging in their actions abroad. President-elect Obama has close foreign genes and he spent part of his youth abroad. I hope this will influence him and make him different from his predecessors.

Amando Doronila is Wrong

In his Inquirer column, Amando Doronila argues that US President-elect Barack Obama is “no friend to the Philippines” because Obama snubbed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s congratulatory call.

Amando Doronila is wrong. Since when did we equate Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo with the Philippines? Certainly, Gloria as an unpopular leader comes strong in Barack Obama’s radar. Joc Joc Bolante’s trial in Chicago, put in spotlight by very vocal anti-Gloria protesters outside the courthouse, was too scandalous to escape Obama’s attention. Even US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is no fan of the sitting Philippine leader. Gloria’s misconducts are also all over the Web.

If at all, Obama is showing remarkable sensitivity to the feelings of majority of Filipinos who will be outraged if they see the transformational president chummy-chummy with a woman of strong faith who, the world perceives, institutionalized graft and corruption in a third world country to perpetuate her abusive, repressive regime.

Bad signs for Gloria. Three snubs in a row is outside the margin of error. Obama appears to have lumped her together with the leaders of Burma, Zimbabwe and Sudan, who Obama plans to take on (reading his Berlin speech between the lines) and whose congratulatory calls Obama will probably not promptly return.

There is silver lining for Gloria, though. Bill Clinton is her college classmate, and Hillary may just become the US Secretary of State.

Still, a multitude silently waits here now and ready to erupt into cheers if only the “cut and cut cleanly” one-liner gets delivered Obama style— so hope and change would come to the Philippines too.

Sen. Barack Obama gets a match in Gov. Sarah Palin

Soon after the Sen. John McCain announced his vice presidential running mate in the coming US elections, Americans turned their focus to a dark horse from Alaska, a 44 year old woman of understated fame who was brave enough to bring her fifth pregnancy to term which she knew had Down’s Syndrome (aka Mongolism, Trisomy 21 .) With a laudable reputation of cutting down corruption in her jurisdiction, Palin appeared to be a remarkable counterbalance to McCain’s moderate stance, a complement to his wide experience and advance age.

A mother of 5 children who enjoys fishing and hunting with her husband and eats mooseburger, Palin is a fighter against interest groups. Her conservative opposition to abortion and gay marriage is diametrically against Sen. Barack Obama’s liberal proclivities. She favors gun rights, capital punishment, sexual abstinence, and oil drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR.)

Criticized for her inexperience and being young like Obama, Palin has a longer hands-on experience in politics than Obama, having started as a two-term Wasilla mayor commencing in 1992 and then later as the youngest governor of Alaska in 2006 who defeated incumbent Republican Frank Murkowski in the primary and former Democrat governor Tom Knowles in the general election

Being governor, Palin has more latitude in decision-making which affects the day-to-day lives of her constituents compared to Obama, a Harvard-educated senator from Illinois elected on 2004 who often handles more focused duties in legislative committee away from his constituents. Strong in vision and promises, Obama, a staunch critic of Pres. George Bush’s Iraq policy and a proponent of universal healthcare is relatively a blank slate that perturbs the undecided voters.

Obama’s godly persona and redemptive “message of change” for America which attract young voters and many liberal Hollywood stars match the beauty and intelligence of Palin, a former Miss Alaska finalist and basketball guard with a plebeian family background. While the Obama breaks the glass ceiling of being the first Afro-American candidate, she carries the distinction of being the first woman ever nominated as veep in the GOP ticket.

As November 4 winds up, the undecided segment of voting public is on watch for the factor that will make them choose. With multiplicity of issues to consider, they have a lot to learn about the candidates. Campaigners from both sides of the political aisle scramble for the pros and cons of candidates to sway for votes.

It remains to be seen whether Palin, a “non-denominational” Christian of Pentecostal background will continue to chip away the loyal supporters left by Democrat Hillary Clinton away from Obama and his veep running mate John Biden to the side of the Republicans, Vetted by hard-hitting Democrats who snipe on Palin’s 17-year old pregnant daughter, the Republicans put their bets on Palin—hoping that no major surprise would come up to tarnish her name. =0=

Choosing the right US Vice President

As the November 4, 2008 US presidential election closes in, the Democratic and Republican parties are at high pitch to choose the best vice president nominees to support the candidacy of Barack Obama and John McCain respectively. The idea of having a vice president can be as simple as the reason why there’s the first runner-up in the Miss Universe contest. When the president becomes incapacitated or dies, it’s the vice president who takes over.

A death of the president occurred during the Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s term and Harry Truman, the vice president of 82 days took over. When Pres. John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 in Texas, vice president Lyndon Johnson ascended as the president. After Pres. Richard Nixon’s resignation in August 9, 1974 on the wake of the Watergate scandal, it paved way to President Gerald Ford to assume the duties of the presidency.

In the last administrations, vice presidents are more active in policy administration than their earlier counterparts. They usually work behind the scene without much glare as the president takes in his position. Al Gore, the vice president of Bill Clinton had a substantial role in defining the environmental policy during their tenure. In the Pres. George W. Bush’s administration, it’s Dick Cheney who silently held sway in foreign policies and the wars of the Iraq and Afghanistan.

As of August 22, 2008, Barack Obama said he has chosen his democratic vice presidential nominee. Delaware’s Sen. Joe Biden, NY’s Sen. Hillary Clinton, Virginia’s Gov. Tim Kaine, Texas’ Rep. Chet Edwards, and Indiana’s Sen. Evan Bayh are likely possibilities. Among them, Hillary with large voting following is thought to be the best to help Obama get elected.

On the opposite side of the political aisle, John McCain on the other hand has a choice in former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Mormon with strong credentials in business and economy vetted by political analysts. Considered with Romney in the Republican camp are Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, and Homeland Security Head Tom Ridge.

Whoever is the choice in both the Republican and Democratic parties, the veep pick has the capacity to influence the outcome of the presidential race. A choice with strong exposure in foreign policy like Biden could help the young Barack Obama who has a vision of change, but lacks validation of experience. On the other hand, John McCain from Arizona with a solid track record of public service will be helped by a nominee that’s away from his home base— like Romney who’s from the Northeast. Therefore, the choice for vice president considers the maximum votes the party can get for the party to win and help in the governance once the US president is elected. =0=

Breaking News: Democrat Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware is announced on August 23, 2008 as Barack Obama’s vice presidential nominee.