Obama fever

I was among the thousands of Filipinos who were glued to the television sets from Tuesday night to the wee hours of Wednesday to catch a glimpse of the inaugural ceremonies of U.S. President Barack Obama.

From pre-inauguration celebrations at the Lincoln Memorial to the actual oath-taking ceremonies at Capitol Hill, I watched with amazement and fascination. For one, I was amazed that so many celebrities took part in the different pre-inaugural celebrations - Jack Black, Beyonce, Samuel Jackson, Mary J. Blige, U2, Stevie Wonder, Tom Hanks. I was amazed, too that so many people braved the cold, and some even traveled far to witness the different activities and be part of history. But I was even more amazed that people in the Philippines, which is thousands of miles away from Washington D.C., were watching as the events unfolded. Even local television networks covered the event way past their sign-off schedules.

Why all the fuss about Barack Obama?

I got my very first lesson on the U.S. political system from The FREEMAN editor-in-chief Jerry Tundag years ago. Sir Jerry was the one who explained to me about the popular and electoral votes. But I didn't really take to heart the things that Sir Jerry lectured about the first time because I wasn't really interested.

Things changed, however, when Barack Obama came into the picture. Aside from being a cool person with a unique name, the man is really interesting - son of a Kenyan and a white American, the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, a community organizer, a civil rights attorney, a black man eyeing the White House who promises change. Why not!

I began reading more about how campaigns and elections are done in the U.S. I followed his campaign, read up about him and rooted for him during the primaries. Yes, we cannot contribute to U.S. politics but the Americans saw the interest of other countries in their elections. Proof of this is when the U.S. Embassy held mock elections in key cities in the country to give us a taste of how their elections are done. A far as I can remember, there wasn't anything like this in past U.S. elections.

We may not be directly under President Obama's rule but let's face it; whatever his administration does has an effect on the country and the world. If he promises change in the U.S., then perhaps, there is also a possibility of change in the world. If Barack Obama's dream can come true, then maybe our dreams will, too.

This is the effect of President Barack Obama on people, Americans or non-Americans. And this is the reason why Obama fever is spreading not only across America, but also across the world.

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