So, after resoundingly defeating John Mccain in the 2008 United States Presidential Elections, former presidential candidate Barrack Hussein Obama has now become president-elect. I won’t lie to you, I’ve been rooting for Obama for quite some time, but that’s really because I’m a Digg user and everything there is pro-Obama and anti-Mccain. Oh and not to mention anti-Palin, though probably with good enough reason.
In actual fact, I’ve never really bothered to keep up with the presidential elections, sure I know the names and just a tiny bit of their policies, but other than that I’ve really been more interested in the gossip about Palin and the like, much more entertaining for me. It’s not that I’m completely politically apathetic, but whoever the new president is won’t really have much significant impact for me. Most of the issues they argue about in debates mainly concern the American people, and being a non-US citizen, I just don’t feel the significance of their policies as much as an American would.
That said, if I were an American citizen, I’d most probably vote for Obama. He’s promising the most for the average citizen, tax cuts, etc. Though there’s one thing I worry about. He’s always promised that he’ll end the war in Iraq “responsibly”, what exactly that means, no one knows. Still, most people have definitely been caught up in his rhetoric, thinking “Mccain’s going to stay in Iraq forever, Obama’s theh only way out”. It’s hardly surprising of course, considering how he utters words like this:
Mccain: Americans Fine With Troops In Iraq For 10,000 Years
The title is mere sensationalism though, if people actually watch the video, he says something along the lines of how he’s fine with Americans staying in Iraq only if the bloodshed stops, which is reasonable enough. He states about how Americans don’t complain about troops being stationed in Germany, Japan and North Korea as well. However, he’s really got to be crazy if he thinks the troops themselves don’t mind being stationed in a foreign country. Still, he has a point that there really isn’t as much outcry over those troops simply because their lives aren’t in as much risk as those stationed in Iraq, that’s why he’s fine staying in Iraq for so long.
In comparison, Obama keeps stating that he’ll end the war in Iraq responsibly “within 16 months” as well as withdraw troops within that same time. However…
Under the Obama-Biden plan, a residual force will remain in Iraq and in the region to conduct targeted counter-terrorism missions against al Qaeda in Iraq and to protect American diplomatic and civilian personnel.
I don’t know how many people actually know about that, the way Obama’s rhetoric has been putting it across seems like he’s going to take them all out. Furthremore, no one really knows what will happen if most of the troops are withdrawn so quickly. The American lives that are being stationed there are really serving as a deterrance right now. Who knows what will happen if that deterrence disappears.
Still, Mccain’s on the losing end here. Most American citizens will no doubt vote for Obama with regards to this matter. Mccain’s the one who’s been supporting the war which cost more lives than 9/11 did and he wants them to remain there for an indefinite period until Iraq is stable enough. Oh and not to mention there’s that problem of the economy, which Mccain himself admits he has little experience with. Then there’s that issue of Palin……
On the whole, I’m still glad Obama got elected, as is 53% of the electorate, compared to Mccain’s 46%. His ability to inspire the American public just with his rhetoric counts for a lot by itself, while it won’t have any tangible ramifiations, it does a lot for their morale and will definitely benefit the country as a whole. His policies will aid the average working class American citizen and the fact that Americans are even willing to elect an African-American as the President of the United States speaks volumes by itself.
So congrats to President-Elect Obama, here’s hoping he will effect the change he’s promised.
I mean even if Mccain + Palin had gotten elected, I really don’t know if they could do a worse job than Bush…
