Barack Obama's win of the US presidency has sent an alarming signal of a freshly-revived American democracy, political analysts anonymously agreed upon during their discussions at an Election Watch Function held Wednesday by the American Consulate in Jeddah at the Hilton Hotel. Obama won the 21-month long presidential campaign which was defined as a culmination of a historic, barrier-breaking campaign whose promise of change generated a groundswell at the polls. The election of Obama was a clear proof that American democracy was truly in action, said C.B. Toney, Acting Consul General of the United States, a tall muscled man dressed in black, during the function. Boosting glitz for election, TV networks from CNN to Fox News continued calling the results for the captivated audience of more than 300 people who had gathered since 7 A.M. The audience was captivated until Obama broke the 200 electoral votes against only 90 votes for McCain. Then the Hilton turned into a buzz of feverish activities including orientation of the Muslim and Arab community in the US, universities and colleges for prospective students, and panel discussions, and food. Actually, lots of it. The audience, which included American residents in Jeddah, Saudi friends of the Consulate, students, and media people, indulged themselves into speculating about the change that Obama could do at a time that history books will record for the next generations to take lessons from. Maybe a time that Thomas Jefferson himself, the designer of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, never thought about. The landslide vote for Obama of 349, against only 147 for McCain, energized the audience to dig deep into what made him win by such a sweep win. “Obama bagged the presidency, strategically and symbolically,” said a Saudi man after the concession speech of McCain. “I did not like the comment of McCain in his speech when he hinted to African-Americans,” he said. “He made it look like Obama was the president of African-Americans only. That is not true, he won big time.” Many sideline discussions focused on the aspirations and expectations of the American public back home and the world at large after Obama's hard-won victory. The agent of change, Obama, inspired the hope of younger generations of America with his victory. “If you look at the democratic process in the overall elections, you'll find that more young people came out to vote than ever before,” said Acting Consul General Toney. “Overall, as a democracy the people, the turnover and transition of power from one to another has happened throughout our entire history,” he said. “So we saw democracy in action today, where the president-elect and the vice-president elect will lead the nation after January 20th. From that perspective, we saw democracy in action and I feel very good and confident that the wheels of democracy will continue to turn.” “I can't say anything about how all Americans feel about leadership but I can say the people have spoken and elected a candidate who is well-versed in social affairs and grown up as part of a mixed-marriage and as a lawyer and the first president from the Harvard Law Revue, and his running-mate Joe Biden, somebody who has served on the judiciary and foreign affairs committee in the Senate, I think you've got a pretty strong galvanized force which will lead the American people in 2009 and for the next four years,” Toney said. The people have spoken, he said, resonating with McCain's comment “The American people have spoken and they have spoken clearly,” during his concession speech in Phoenix. Participants at the functions raised questions about the daunting problems which will face the new president — an economy on the ropes, two long wars yet unresolved, underperforming education, crumbling infrastructure, and 50 million Americans with no health insurance. “There are platforms that the new administration will enact over the next four years so the focus will be on governing the nation as a whole, because the whole nation, all fifty states, have spoken and they will go about doing the work of the people,” said Toney. In a TV interview with a young American college student in Boston, he said that American young people have seen new possibilities wrapped in excitement of a new beginning with Obama. “It sure feels great,” he said. “Both Biden and Obama actually galvanize an appeal which motivated youth to come out and vote in record numbers, so a cross-section, particularly youth, got up on Election Day and got their voting shoes on and went to the polls and voted. And the lines were long and they stood in record temperatures to vote. Why they voted? Only the election polls can tell you that. We can say the result of their voting was due to one of change, we are now peacefully changing as a democracy from one administration to another which will take effect from January 20th,” Toney said. An afternoon panel discussion cautioned that extreme optimism about a new American president has always been something of an inherent trait in the Middle East. American strategies are the same, but the execution plan is different from one president to another, the panelists agreed. The region should not expect much at this point as America is too busy with a crumbling economy to go overseas and mind other problems, said Dr. Abdullah Al-Bargi during the panel discussion. The Middle East countries should get their act together, Obama is the president of Americans “and not of the Arabs,” said Hashim Kaaki, Bureau Chief of Al-Hayat newspaper. “We must not forget that Obama himself said let's not depend on the Saudi oil,” he added But regardless of what Arabs think, American democracy proved itself with Obama's election, said Dr. Amira Kashghri, English professor at the Education College in Jeddah. “America is now much whiter and brighter with Obama in the office,” she added. – SG __
