Bitter words

It’s pretty hard not to keep up to speed on the ongoing Democratic nominations race in the US, with two of the remaining candidates already making history. And while Republican John McCain is just waiting in the wings for his opponent come November, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama continue to slug it out. It is amusing how the use of a single word can be ammunition to discredit someone, especially in the microscopic field of party nomination politics.

The current exchange of political blows stems from Obama’s use of the word “bitter” in explaining why some citizens of rural areas cling to religion and guns to compensate for their bitterness from financial woes. Bad move. Criticisms and accusations of elitism on the part of Obama were hurled at the Democratic hopeful. And his opponent wasted no time in exploiting this faux pas. That’s how politics is. Unforgiving and always under scrutiny, even when you’re telling the truth.

Personally, I saw nothing wrong or offensive about Obama’s opinions. There are people who are in truth neglected by government and society in general, and being in financial distress or despair does not help any. To be bitter is normal and true. And when one is bitter, one looks for a diversion from that bitterness. In the US, it may very well be religion or a penchant for guns. Back here, it’s also religion and, I guess, karaoke, and maybe even to a smaller degree, guns. As the saying goes, anything that floats your boat. So what’s wrong in saying that which is probably true? In the US, apparently, it is. Courting voters also means not courting enemies. Someone said that the man who wins an election is not the one who has the most number of friends but the one who has the least number of enemies.

The Democratic nomination race should be over soon. But not before they exploit each and every opportunity to discredit each other. Still they play by the unwritten rules of honor in launching a campaign or launching an offensive. Somehow, there are rules of engagement. It is certainly a lot tamer than what we have over here, where politicians can literally hurl mud, even bullets. Whoever comes out as the Democratic candidate, history is already made. What would take it a notch further is if one of them actually lands in the White House.

  We’ve had two women presidents. I guess Barack Obama’s equivalent here would be an ethnic Chinese. That certainly would be something if one actually became President of the Philippines. Who knows? We certainly don’t have a shortage of taipans and tycoons who are financially capable of launching an impressive presidential campaign. But, make no mistake about it. There are rules, even in American politics. While the two fiercely embattled candidates launch their bullets and arrows at each other in testing the limits of the rules — it is the American voting public who crossed that line and who remains acceptable.