American presidential campaign

September 19, 2012 at 2:00 am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Tags: American presidential campaign, Civil Service essay, GRE/ GMAT/ CAT

A muddled campaign

(Hindu editorial September 19, 2012)

The current U.S. presidential election ratings showing Barack Obama leading his Republican challenger Mitt Romney by seven percentage points among registered voters and only three among likely voters reveal the uncertainty surrounding the whole election. As President, Mr. Obama faces new challenges in West Asia and North Africa, with public anger spreading throughout the region over the inflammatory internet film Innocence of Muslims. Washington’s strategy has been shaken by an attack in Benghazi, in which the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three colleagues were killed. The attack may have been a premeditated one by al Qaeda and not a reaction to the film as had initially been assumed, underlining the fact that U.S.-led interventions from Afghanistan to Libya have not produced the sort of outcomes the American people were promised by their leaders. In addition, the risk is worsening of a confrontation with Iran and possibly Russia over Syria. As for the U.S. economy, unemployment may have fallen by about a fifth during Mr. Obama’s presidency, to 8.1 per cent, but that does not include those who have stopped seeking work, and the August job-creation figure of 96,000 was below the symbolic 100,000 mark.

Mr. Romney, for his part, faces an even messier picture. Eminent Republicans want him to state his policies so that voters might at least have some idea about what he would do in office, but the gaffe-prone candidate seems unable to come up with anything but gaffes. His criticism of the President over the Benghazi attack has been seen as all but anti-national in a time of crisis. Secondly, he has given the Democrats a gift by saying at a closed-door Republican donors’ meeting that the 47 per cent of Americans who would vote for Mr. Obama “no matter what” pay no income tax and believe they are “entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing, to you name it”. The President instantly replied that Mr. Romney had written off half the population. As if that were not enough, Mr. Romney’s aides in Madison, Wisconsin, called the police when workers at an Illinois factory funded by Mr. Romney’s former company Bain Capital tried to deliver a 35,000-signature petition asking it not to outsource jobs to China. Even Mr. Romney’s strategists are apparently divided, with the senior campaign organiser Stuart Stevens being blamed for a lacklustre party convention a fortnight ago. Nevertheless, Mr. Obama seems unable to make political capital out of the Republicans’ discomfiture. With an opponent like Mr. Romney, this election is his for the taking. Yet the gap between the two contenders is too close for comfort.
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Obama falters as Romney stumbles .. My notes

The American presidential election campaign is on. Among the registered voters Obama has a clear edge of seven percentage; among the likely voters, he leads by just three points. But, sadly for Obama, he is unable to build on this lead to consolidate it further.

The international scene has become stridently ant-American because of no fault of his. A film named ‘The Innocence of Muslims” made by an American Jew, has been found to be extremely offensive by the Muslims. A violent anti-American rage is sweeping across the Islamic countries. Soon after the film was aired in U-Tube, the American ambassador in Libya was killed in a rocket attack, along with three of his colleagues. Whether it had anything to do with the film or was a premeditated attack by Al-Qaeda elements is not clear. Nevertheless, it has rattled the White House. In the last few days, anti-American fury seems to have engulfed nearly 25 Muslim countries in West Asia and elsewhere. The carefully cultivated policy of Obama to project a more benign American face to the Muslim world now lies in tatters. Apart from this, a political confrontation with Russia over Syria and a possible military strike on Iran are looming. The campaign in Afghanistan is unmistakably veering towards an unpleasant end.

All these are setbacks for Obama in the foreign affairs front. Domestically, unemployment seems to be receding, but in a pace too slow for cheer. The economy is not going great guns either. Over all, Obama’s record, clearly, is not so inspiring.

Romney’s campaign, on the other hand, does not seem to get off the ground in the true sense. He has not clearly spelt out his ideas on foreign policy, defense, and economy. His ill-advised attack on Obama in the aftermath of the assassination of the American ambassador in Libya was insensitive. Many Americans perceived it to be anti-national. He is also a person prone to gaffes, something that embarrasses him and his followers too frequently. In a recent closed-door fund-raising meeting, he is reported have berated a good number of Obama supporters as those who do not pay any taxes to the government, but lay claim to the welfare benefits. This comment leaked out, attracting a sharp repartee from Obama. The Republican Party’s last convention was rather damp affair. Thus, nothing seems to going Romney’s way, at least for the present.

Pitted against such a weak rival, Obama should ride the waves. It is strange to see that this is not happening. Obama, possibly should rework his strategy to sway more voters to his side and seal his victory.

 

 

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