A new and kinder America?

LOS ANGELES – Just when much of the world had given up on an America that not only elected but re-elected George W. Bush, here we are today with the two parties nominating two very different personalities from Mr. Bush to succeed him. Whoever wins this November, whether Barack Obama or John McCain, promises to revise the face of America that the rest of the world sees.

It isn’t too much to expect a fresh new image of America emerging from the November election. Neither Obama nor McCain exhibit anything like the “with us or against us” type of arrogance that the world experienced during the past eight years of the Bush administration. Both are expected to drop the unilateralism of Mr. Bush in favor of more consultations with allies and multilateralism through the United Nations and other institutions.

The impression is also being given that both Obama and McCain will pursue a world view that America even as a superpower is expected to reach out more to new emerging economies and Europe for more coordinated approaches to problems. They now know from recent experience that unilateralism has its limitations. Winning over allies may offer benefits.

Of course, the mere fact that Obama got as far as he had is awe-inspiring enough. Now, he is on the verge of topping the historic feat of a black man running for President by being elected. A lot of things can still happen between now and November and it may even turn out America is not ready to make history in that respect just yet. But one can’t help admire the sheer audacity of hope that Obama’s candidacy brings. And if Obama selects New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a  half Hispanic and McCain selects Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a  first generation Indian-American from India as their running mates, the statue of Liberty on New York’s harbor would have would have more meaning to today’s generation.

The biggest negative thing they can say about Obama is that he is too inexperienced to be President… that he does not have enough managerial background to run the huge bureaucracy that is the American government. But then again, he has proven these critics wrong simply by the way he has successfully managed his primary campaign. Who would have thought when the primary season started that Hillary Clinton would lose a sure thing to the first term senator from Illinois?

Indeed, who would have thought that the relative unknown would be able to build a strong and committed constituency and raise more money than the well connected Mrs. Clinton and actually outspend her during the campaign? Strong personal attributes like his ability to convey sincerity, honesty and intelligence all contributed to deliver the nomination for Mr. Obama. He was a made for media type of personality who remains unruffled through tough situations and has the ability to stand his ground on the basis of principles rather than give in to cheap political populism.

Mr. McCain on the other hand, is not your Bush type of Republican either. He doesn’t blindly follow ideological and religious dictates. His image as a maverick within the Republican Party gives comfort to ordinary folks who have worried about the unthinking ideological inclinations of the current administration. His ability to work with Democrats for important pieces of legislation, no matter how controversial to his party mates (like the Immigration reform measure he drafted with Senator Kennedy), is also welcome given the current culture of stiff partisanship in the corridors of power within the Beltway.

America has a lot of image rebuilding to do with the rest of world after all the damage during the Bush years. And the work does not involve hiring Madison Avenue type of experts, like Dubya did, who tried to sell America like Coca Cola. They even created a high level position in the State department to do this sort of selling job. But the effort obviously failed miserably. The world is more sophisticated than they thought, to fall for such an approach to win friends for America.

It is now reasonable to think that finally, whoever wins in November, America’s strategy in winning friends abroad would be more sincere and more substantive. Of course the election of Obama would deliver a stronger message of change not just to Americans but to the rest of the world. But Mr. McCain is equally capable of delivering the message that things are going to be different in the way America deals with the world… a lot better than it is today.

It’s the economy, stupid

The way it looks from what I have seen over the past weeks, the economy rather than Iraq will emerge as the defining issue of the November elections. The candidate who can convince the electorate that they have answers or even just provide hope for improved lives will make it to the White House.

Race will be a factor too, no doubt, specially for some sectors and regions. But on the whole, the fact that over 90 percent of the population failed to share in whatever economic bounties there were during the past eight years will matter at the polling booths. It is obvious that Americans today are not as blessed as their parents were at the same time of their lives. Many sons and daughters of baby boomers continue to live with their parents even after college to save on rent because they simply cannot afford the costs of living independently otherwise.

People are running scared these days about their finances. The subprime fiasco is one thing. Rising unemployment is another top source of fear in people’s lives these days. It also doesn’t help that the public school system is not what it used to be. Americans are not being trained well enough to compete in a globalized world. High levels of education are essential to compete at a time when jobs that required lower levels of training are being migrated to offshore locations like Manila and Hyderabad.

Because the US military is now essentially a volunteer army, the continuing war in Iraq is not going to be as important as the bread and butter issues of jobs, job security and affordable health care to the American electorate. Helplessness in the face of a stiff upward spiral of oil product prices will also generate an emotional backlash during the elections.

Politicians will be severely tempted to offer knee jerk populist relief to high gasoline prices, now at over $4.50 a gallon in California. I don’t know how long Obama can be steadfast in his position that the problem should be addressed with a view to seeking long-term technological solutions to America’s hopeless dependence on oil. He talks of putting up a Manhattan project to concentrate America’s technological prowess into the task of unshackling Americans from the bondage of oil. But the man on the street enters his polling booth this November, he will likely be too shocked by today’s oil price levels to even appreciate any logical long-term solution.

Obama’s tax the excessively rich and redistribute income to help those who need it to cope with rising energy and living expenses makes sense. On the other hand, McCain’s hold the fort approach to the tax cuts of the Bush era may no longer hold the same appeal in this era of scandalously high earnings for corporate fat cats and hedge funds investors.

Whatever… the economy will be the crucial issue for the presidential campaign. How the candidates simplify their economic programs to capture the imagination of the ordinary and economically insecure American will spell the difference this November. But whoever wins, we have reason to hope that a new and hopefully kinder America will emerge.

Jay Leno on McCain

“Obama and Hillary argued over which candidate the Republicans are most afraid of. Interesting. I don’t want to take sides here, but I think it’s pretty obvious which candidate Republicans are most afraid of, John McCain.”

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]