USA. USA. USA.

I woke up at 6:30 this morning, around 8:00 at night back home. Its 7:50 am now and the Socialist-Islamist bloc that runs MSNBC (new readers: that’s sarcasm) just called Ohio for Obama. Most of the news here is ABC/CNN/CBS/MSNBC coverage cross-linked with the major Indian news networks. Every few minutes the American news switches over to Indian commentary, and it’s clear the Indian pundits prefer Obama as a candidate.

For that matter, most Indians I’ve met on the street prefer Barack as well, and the general tone and tenor of their support is wrapped up in race. The idea of a black man running the most powerful country in the world seems to have re-affirmed an Indian belief in the potential of the American experiment, although with that said any re-discovered love of America is mollified by several large grains of salt. America is still seen as a country that cannot always be trusted, as a nation that throws its weight around needlessly, etc. And it’s notable that another source of Indian love for Obama is the democratic candidate’s tough rhetoric towards India’s great rival, Pakistan.

8:00 AM: Obama takes New Mexico.

I support Obama. A lot of people vote based on their jobs, and I suppose I do too. I think Barack Obama is the ideal travel writer’s candidate. His international background speaks to the cosmopolitan, worldly ‘new’ American who stands in direct contrast to the isolation and insularism of the Sarah Palin ‘real’ American. His intellectual energy and curiosity are at the heart of the impulse to explore the world outside your borders, but his basic commitment to core democratic values has distinctly American overtones. So when I see his international and domestic appeal working in tandem, I can’t help but think Barack Obama speaks for almost every independent American traveler I’ve met on the road: people who hunger to discover the world, want to learn from citizens and philosophies of other nations, yet remain anchored and in character essentially American. He speaks for me. I don’t just want to get a beer with Barack Obama; I want to ask him about going to school in an Indonesian madrassa while drinking kopi susu in Jogja; I want to split a Tusker and some choma with him in Nairobi; I want him to show me the best spam spots in Honolulu.

Yes, I like Barack’s policies and I hope he re-hires Samantha Powers if he makes it into office, because she’s one of my favorite foreign affairs professionals. But – and you can paint me a hypocrite, because I usually argue policy above personality –the man’s character and yes, color, also attracts me. The Indians and the Africans I met in Kenya are right: this is the time to elect a black man because the world’s power base is moving from white to brown/black. With a black man – and not just any black man, but an internationally raised, mixed-race, extremely intelligent and charismatic one – at the helm of the nation, the USA will have the best qualified commander-in-chief in position to navigate the difficult waters of a decade that is going to experience a shift of the global center of gravity. We will be led by a man who can naturally connect to a largely post-colonial, brown-and-black world that regards America, with justification, warily, but also (and sometimes simultaneously) hopefully.

I take it back about liking Barack for his race. In truth, I like him for his post-racial identity. I like the idea of a world where color and cultural background are seen as elements of, rather than integral to, identity. Barack Obama personifies the above impulse (and has written about it eloquently) to the greatest degree of any American presidential candidate.

That’s enough of my punditry. Back to the news…

9:00 AM: Breakfast. I eat my eggs and bread quickly, down three cups of juice and a coffee, and rush back to the TV.

Around 9:40AM: Obama wins. CBS calls it, then MSNBC, now CNN. I yell, and I’m crying and laughing at the same time.

9:54 AM: McCain gives an excellent, gracious and dare I say, moving concession speech. He was the best of his breed. But his choice of Palin put me off him in a serious way. Still, this is a lovely sentiment: “Today, I was a candidate for the highest officer of the land I love so much, and tonight I remain a servant of it.” Wow. You can sense his pain as he walks off stage, gives Palin a cursory handshake, her husband less of one, and stiffly accepts a hug from his wife.

9:59 AM: I’ll work late tonight, because I*have* to watch Obama’s acceptance speech.

10:03 AM: An African American pastor comes out and gives a Civil Rights-era worthy introduction to Obama. “Give to us a new hope. We pray for president-elect Barack Obama…endow him with an unshakeable spirit.” It’s a beautiful prayer, and makes sense given Obama’s African-American background, but perhaps too religious for me. But I have a feeling Obama will provide a dose of secularism…dammit, why don’t the pundits shut up. “…the beacon light on the hill that all nations may see. Bless us…that we might truly see the time when your kingdom may come on Earth. Let us not rest on these laurels…”

10:05 AM: Some guy (sorry, don’t know name) gives a nice rendition of the pledge of allegiance. A horn honks outside. Of course; it’s India. But I like to think its some local happy about Obama winning. Wow. Obama won Florida, Virginia and Colorado.

10:26 AM: Obama comes out to give his acceptance speech, flanked by wife and kids. I can’t say I like Michelle’s dress much. Everyone is chanting ‘Yes We Did.’

10:27 AM: “Hello, Chicago. Is anyone out there who still doubts if America is a place where anything is possible?”

10:28: GODDAMN YOU INDIA YOU CUT THE POWER NOW!?!?!?!

10:29 AM: Power back. Barack, here’s your first executive order: repair India’s utilities.

10:31 AM: Tells kids they’re getting a new puppy. Aw. And now speaks of his grandmother.

10:39 AM: “In parliaments and palaces and those huddled around radios in forgotten corners of the world: Our stories are singular but our destinies are shared. A new dawn of American leadership is at hand.” See what I mean?

10:44 AM: Yes we did. Sigh (but happy sigh). Back to buses and dodging cows…

Comments

[Scott Kennedy]

nice one Adam - great comments on a monumental day!

cheers,
Scott

[Henry B]

Adamski, great entry as always!

[Andy Mac]

Mengalaba muzungu :-)

Lovely post bro - eloquent as ever. I have to agree with you; it's a wonderful thing for America and, having read his first book, the man is mature and has faced his demons. He seems to have done this to the extent that his charisma and credibility are both implicit and explicit in his emotive speeches. This is a man we would all trust and sit with, converse with and allow lead us. Haha.. I can't even go to the country and I think it's a great time for America and Americans everywhere...

[Matt]

Samantha Powers was one of my favourite professors at Harvard. She's also a cutie (^_^)

[Sundby]

Wow, and all I did was drink beer at a friend's place in the Upper East Side.

I'm considering taking the train down to D.C. for the inauguration. Doesn't look like I'll win any lotteries for tickets to the Mall, but the Mall won't be the only popular place come Jan. 20.

Will you be back in the States by then?