Great Expectations: US pins hopes on Obama

It is a moment that will live in history as long as history books are written, said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown after Barack Obama won the US presidential elections.

On Wednesday, the world's oldest and most powerful democracy demonstrated its ideals of liberty and opportunity. Americans turned out in millions to decisively elect their first Black President – Barack Obama.

The great call to justice given by leaders like Martin Luther King is answered in some measure as a rainbow coalition of young, first time voters, Hispanics, the working class, and African Americans joined hands to lift the 47-year-old son of a Kenyan immigrant to the White House. Some even called it America's Mandela moment.

On the panel of experts to discuss America’s big day were Counselor for Public Affairs, US Embassy, Larry Schwartz, CNN Correspondent Sara Sidner, Professor Dipankar Gupta who is a sociologist at the JNU, Dalit thinker and author Chandrabhan Prasad and

former UN Under Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor.

Will Obama's victory change America's image in the world?

Eight years of the Bush regime was marked by America being perceived as the villain in many parts of the world. Now, after Obama’s victory, will America return to be the beacon on the hill?

Tharoor began the debate by saying, “I think so by the mere fact of who he is.”

“There are basically two types of stereotypes about America out there in the world – the big bully that invades Iraq and then the positive stereotype that it is the land of hope and dreams. This vision is what attracted millions to America. Obama, by embodying the second stereotype of being a coloured person, son of an African immigrant and brought up by a single mother, somebody who has lived in the developing world and bears a Muslim name – makes him the living and breathing embodiment of what makes America today,” Tharoor said.

So now it is going to be difficult for America's critics elsewhere in the world to make a caricature of America because Obama's story will be a repudiation of what they usually seem to believe.

Agreeing Schwartz said that America has finally emerged from a very difficult campaign.

“The country has been very divided over issues in this campaign. What is great is that finally there is some clarity now on which way we are going,” he said.

Towing a similar line, Gupta said, "America does have two sides to it. But of my experience, which is limited, the best in the world live in the US. They are tolerant, generous and accepting of differences. Of course Obama is a person of great talent but at the same time America sees Obama in a certain light. They want him to be what they think is right. People have transferred their ambitions and hope to Obama and he is a very good vehicle for all of that.”

Columnists say that Obama is asking America to be its best self. This is because America is the leader of the world and Obama wants it to set the tone for the rest to follow.

“This is America's second revolution. When America got independence it coined the idea of equality and that idea has been put into practice only now, after Obama's victory,” Prasad explained.

However, Sidner said that there is a lot of excitement in the African American community, but there is lots still to be done.

Is this American democracy's finest hour?

Is the world's oldest democracy and the largest democracy on the right track at this point with the ascent of Obama? The Democrats are often seen as inimical to India's interests.

Democrats have put pressure on nuclear proliferation, they are protectionists as far as outsourcing is concerned. They have also put pressure as far as Kashmir on ideological issues like human rights. Republics on the other hand are more business-like and pragmatic. Is that an apprehension that many Indians share?

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“No, I don't share that apprehension,” Tharoor said.

“I think some of the concerns of people in India have been a little exaggerated. On the nuclear non-proliferation business, Obama voted for the Indo-US nuclear deal as did McCain. It's true that there is likely to be a move towards endorsing the CTBT in America and at that point India may come under pressure. But my answer will be why not? I mean if US is going to sign a test ban treaty and the rest of the world will be going along, India could not do something that prevents the risk of nuclear warfare. In any case, CTBT or no CTBT, if we test there will terrible sanctions,” Tharoor reasoned.

On the business front, Obama is committed to protecting jobs in America. But American companies are also looking at saving costs and so they are looking at outsourcing jobs, Tharoor explained.

“So the tax benefits that Obama will offer will probably get outweighed by the advantages that outsourcing provides. So there again nothing is there to worry for India,” he said.

Regarding Kashmir, Tharoor said that Obama has been misunderstood in India.

“What he has been saying is Pakistan’s encouragement of militancy because of Kashmir has actually come back to hurt Pakistan itself. And the biggest threat to Pakistan is its own Islamic fundamentalist militants. So Obama is saying that that ought to be dealt with. If anything, Obama has a far more sensitive and well-informed understanding of the subcontinent than any preceding American President. And I am sure we will benefit from that,” Tharoor explained.

However, the general sentiment in India is that the country loves Obama and was rooting for him, but at the end of the day is it prudent to have a Republican President for India.

“I think those who see it like that don't have a proper perspective. The good relations between India and US began in the later years of the Clinton administration. And it continued through the Bush administration. And I believe that the next President of the US will be a very good friend to India. So the growing relations between the two countries cannot be reversed,” Schwartz said.

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What is Obama's greatest democratic achievement in this campaign?

“The best thing about Obama is that he was being himself. Obama stood by the fact that he was Black but at the same time he made colour irrelevant,” Gupta said.

Meanwhile, Tharoor said that in many ways Obama represents the America of tomorrow.

“He has really left behind the history of civil rights. He was only a couple of years old when Martin Luther King jr made his famous 'I have a dream' speech. So this is somebody who is confirming the change in America that it is more multi-racial and multi-ethnic. And what is striking is how young White voters went to vote for Obama because for this generation race does not matter and it never will from here on. And this is the soul of the great nation which is being reborn,” a poetic Tharoor explained.

Is this verdict a new chapter in race relations?

Sidner believed that there is no surprise in Obama's victory because one has to look at who the candidate is. “But just because there has been a Black President does not mean that racial problems are over,” she said.

As the debate gathered steam, panelists agreed that the US lived in segregation by choice.

However, Schwartz argued that Americans are not perfect people. “And we don't plan to be perfect either.”

“Race issues cannot be resolved by the election of a new president. But what we do have is a country which is extremely adaptable. It has recognised that things should change. And the realisation that if we are to get the best from the country then everyone needs to participate. And yes, there is still quite a lot to be done,” he said.

While, Gupta said, “Obama is today who he is because of the small contributors who fuelled his campaign. So millions of Whites and Blacks energised him to reach the White House. And this must be taken into account.”

But where did this desire come from? According to Gupta “charisma lies in the eyes of the beholder.”

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“Americans were desperate to see this and Obama showed it to them. And fortunately, they found the right person in Obama,” he said.

Meanwhile, Prasad took a step back in time to narrate how when in 1993 an African American girl was crowned Miss America. “This is something which had never happened before. And that set a chain of trends in the US. And today, the country has actually won a cultural war with Obama's victory.”

However, Schwartz said that the cultural war is over. “No more can America be a racist country.”

Gupta joined in saying, “More Whites voted for Obama than any other President except Jimmy Carter. More than for Bill Clinton as well.”

In FDR’s footsteps?

Many say that the role model for Obama should be Franklin Delano Roosevelt who took America from the Great Depression to the zenith of power.

“Lets remember that it was a very difficult and close campaign. When the international economic crisis developed in October it showed that there were serious problems in the economy and it was the tipping point for the campaign too. Hopefully, we are not in the Great Depression sort of a situation. In fact Obama will be part of something that we will be starting in the next two weeks. On November 15, George Bush will be holding a global economic summit. The goal is how to deal with this economic crisis,” Schwartz said.

While Gupta said that any sensible American should have FDR as his role model, and not just Obama.

“This is simply because any good governance demands that you put society before the market. FDR had that principle and so did many other politicians. So Obama is following the right line. And I am sure that he will bring a healing touch to the society and the economy as well,” he said.

For Obama to be a transformational President is possible. The Democrats are going to be in control of the Houses, so he can push in a lot of new bills.

Sidner said, “He can try but he will be under a lot of pressure. And if he does not succeed then there is a lot that he will be blamed for.”

Also, how effective will the legislation be considering the Hillary Clinton lobby in the Democrats?

“It has to be done across partisan lines. They have to do it as a group so the least in-fighting the better it would be for them. He has the pressures of turning into a miracle worker or a saviour. But will he deliver? That remains the big question,” Sidner concluded the debate by saying.