Patriotic or just plain excessive?

After eight years, one or two questionable wars, and numerous parodies, the Bush Administration is finally bowing out. Barack Obama was officially inaugurated on January the Twentieth, and America did not hold back as it welcomed its new President. Inaugural Balls were held all over the United States, and tickets to the ceremony itself were being touted for £40,000. The palpable excitement can be felt across the Atlantic, as America looks to the possible solution to all its problems.

But will Obama really be the man who will save the USA? When I wrote about his campaign back in November, I pointed out that his campaign rallies did not offer any concrete policies, but political platitudes designed to win over the voters of whatever state he happened to be in. US political rallies are notorious for being more like rock concerts than centres of debate, but Obama took this to almost ridiculous levels, spending almost a billion dollars on publicity stunts. Throughout all this time, he never once offered a firm position on anything, be it Global Warming or the Iraq War. This has not visibly changed- despite actually winning the election and having almost two months in which to present his policies, Obama has simply ridden his wave of indisputable popularity and basked in the adoring glow of his celebrity supporters. This does not exactly fill allies such as Britain with confidence, especially when Obama’s political attitudes and methods seem so similar to our former image-obsessed Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

Barack Obama has done an amazing thing. He has become the first Black President of a nation which fought a war over its citizen’s rights to keep slaves. He is charismatic and a near political-genius. But we have seen little or no evidence so far of his ability to justify the tide of “Obamamania” that has swept the US. His main policy, as far as I can make out, is “At least I’m not George Bush”. And as we all know, the American people do not appreciate those who fail to deliver on their promises for a better future, especially now with the US economy in dire straits.

It may be early days, and I admit I would rather have Obama in office than Sarah Palin. But with the growing financial depression and the ever-changing face of foreign affairs, Obama needs to prove to the world that he can make good on his promise of change. Otherwise he could find his first term in office a surprisingly short one.

With little more than two weeks until polling day in the US Presidential election, Barack Obama is starting to establish a clear lead in numerous polls, with evidence suggesting he is ahead in many of the key battleground states that he needs to win in order to secure the Presidency. National polls suggest he enjoys a ten point lead over his Republican rival John McCain, and in “swing” states such as Florida, Colorado and Ohio – all of which were won comfortably by George W. Bush in both 2000 and 2004 – Obama enjoys between 5 and 10 point leads. The extent of Obama’s recent surge is perhaps most clearly evident in Virginia, a state that has not backed a Democratic Presidential candidate since 1964 but now backs Obama by up to 10 points.

Obama’s recent momentum can largely be attributed to American fears over the economy. With the American financial system teetering on the brink of collapse, unemployment rising and fuel prices sky high, Americans are looking for a leader that can best guide them through this perilous and uncertain time, and thus far Obama has proved their preference. The economy as the main issue in the Presidential race clearly favours the Harvard-educated Obama who has advocated prudent policies which have gained widespread approval from many American’s and convinced many undecided voters and even some previous McCain supporters to back Obama. Anecdotal evidence even suggests voters who initially rejected Obama because of his race are now prepared to set aside their racism to vote for the candidate that will best secure their employment and prosperity.

Thus whilst Obama has proposed health care reform and tax raises for big earners and successfully allied himself with white working class voters, McCain has appeared to be floundering.

Adam Evans