November 4th 2008 6am
US Elections
Barack Obama ElectedFor a few weeks now, I’ve been reading Barack Obama’s first autobiography. Despite the length of time that it’s taken me to read perhaps 80% of the book, it has been a compelling read. I’m not going to give you a book review… but his appears to be a story of tribulation and much personal strife.
For me, this makes what we saw today all the more remarkable.
It’s been a pleasure to have spent the past 5 hours with Anam living the twists and turns of the election process. We were ‘waiting’ on the results of Ohio and Florida, the former representing the fist major moment of celebration and the second a mere reinforcement of the already secured result. Without wanting to sound like a political infomercial, what we have seen may be the beginning of a new era. I never thought it possible for a black… or semi-black man to ever be president of the USA. I doubt Martin Luther King ever dreamed *excuse the pun* that in the space of less than 50 years a man of Afro-American origin might be president.
Thankfully from my perspective, the American public have chosen Barack Hussein Obama to be their president for the next 4 years at least. I can’t help but fear he has inherited a poisoned chalice; the USA has a $1 trillion deficit looming and an international reputation that has been shot to pieces. However, if ever there was somebody to right the wrongs and go some way towards healing some of America’s ills it appears to be Barack Obama. It reassures me he has assembled one of the most formidable economic teams in political history of Paul Volker, Larry Summers and Robert Rubin, to name but three. Not only that, I can only hope a black man with a middle name of Hussein will make it that bit harder to paint America as the enemy of the Eastern World.
The man’s oratory skills are rarely questioned and today proved no exception. His speech left my *admittedly inebriated* self gobsmacked. Tonight is a night that I anticipate I will never forget. The atmosphere in the heavily partisan Quad was heavily pro-Barack; welcome to the LSE. It’s one of those once in a lifetime experiences I wish I could have shared with more, as it is I am happy to have shared it with Rob and Anam; it will be an abiding memory of my student years.
It’s pushing 6:15 now and I am fit to sleep… The adrenaline rush of an election an ocean away is running out and I will no doubt engage myself in many a political debate in the near future. Again, without wanting to sound like a piece of propaganda, we stand on the cusp of what could be a generation defining presidency… whilst I can’t say that I was there … I did the next best thing. For that: I am glad.
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