It’s Not the Economy, Stupid!

The one-word headlines on Nov 5th New York Times summed it up: “Obama�. The op-ed by Tom Friedman declared the end of the American civil war that “started� in 1861 in Virginia, the same place that last night cemented Obama’s victory. Books will be written on this most historically significant election of the United States. The feeling will take time to sink in. Like most supporters of Obama from the day he announced his candidacy, I am still in awe and shock. Even though I was so confident that Obama will win, a small part of me was very nervous and tense that something bad might happen; that someone claims for Obama to have ties with al-Qaeda or something stupid like that.

It’s too early to tell what kind of President he will be. One thing is for sure, he will be a very intimidating one for the miscreants - the oil kings, the military dictators, and the religious nuts. Ahmadinejads and Kim Jong-Ils of the world are no match for a street trained Chicago community organizer. Let’s face it, who in this world is not intimidated by his charm, his intelligence, his intellect, and most importantly his wisdom, and not to mention his sexy and arousing giggle. I have seen women going mad over that snigger. However, what moved me the most were the tears in Jesse Jackson’s eyes. That was perhaps as forceful a statement about the greatness of this nation, as any. From the march in Alabama to the victory speech in Grant Park, the nation has come this far in such a short span of time is nothing less than a marvel. May be there is a lesson for countries that treat their minorities with disparagement, not only to wake up, but to learn something from this. Let’s hope that they will.

My older son missed this election by one day. He turned 18 the day after. He attends a very politically active University and when I saw these kids volunteering for Obama even before the primaries earlier in the year, I felt something really inspiring and elevating about that. Last night they all got drunk. Today they had hangovers, but they will have a lifetime of high knowing that they were part of this victory and their small part in it. Young first-time voters voted more than ¾ for Obama. They made it possible. Each one of them was the Little Engine that refused to give up. They could.

The race is anything but finished. It has only just begun. Obama brings hope for the entire world. No other US election has been watched with so much interest around the world as this one. From the villages in Kenya to the islands in Indonesia, from halls of London to the factories in Stuttgart, and from the broken West Bank to bustling Tel Aviv, everyone was rooting for Obama, and it is if, as the whole world won. Practicality aside, even the symbolism of it is astonishing.

With so much expectations and burdens of the global proportions on his shoulders, would he deliver what is expected of him? Who cares? The bottom-line is that the Americans have once again proved to the world that it is a self-correcting nation, and there might be pockets of ignorant and coarse Americans, but as a nation, it averages out pretty darn good. For every dozen of Joe Six Packs, there is at least one Mike Blumenthal (my professor friend). It’s Mikes who tip the scale and not the Joes found in baseball caps eating at McDonalds in London (having lived there, I hope it is because that the English food sucks).

Messiah has arrived! And yes, it is not only the economy. It’s a whole lot more than that. It is the 18 year old foot soldiers of this great country that found their calling in the battlefields of Washington DC and Ohio than in Fallujah or Kabul.