A Campaign Oh So American …

What do Europeans – in this case the Swiss – think about the way Americans elect their presidents? According to this article from Switzerland’s Tribune de Geneve, ‘American presidential campaigns are unique because they are so unpredictable. While one truth seems called for by the polls, it is then belied by the vote. While the pundits – those stars of the media circus – designate a front-runner, the people regularly prove them wrong,’

Editorial by Pierre Ruetschi, Chief Editor

Translated By Sandrine Ageorges

January 10, 2008

Tribune de Geneve – Switzerland – Original Article (French)
American presidential campaigns are unique because they are so unpredictable. While one truth seems called for by the polls, it is then belied by the vote. While the pundits – those stars of the media circus – designate a frontrunner, the people regularly prove them wrong.

Bill Clinton made his comeback in New Hampshire in 1992 and in 2000, John McCain made his surprise breakthrough in the same state. At we begin 2008, it is Hillary Clinton who has defied all the polls by resuming her advantage over Barack Obama. We see neither logic nor omens there. Bill Clinton eventually prevailed, John McCain was squashed. Only one truth emerges today: the race is completely wide open on the Democratic side between two extraordinary candidates, in the truest sense of the term. A woman and a Black man.

Beyond programs that in many respects overlap, these two characteristics [being a woman or a Black person] are crucial in this primary race. This Hillary Clinton owes her “miraculous” comeback to the votes of women who rallied massively behind her. And if Barack Obama has been careful to go beyond the racial issue to target a wider audience, it is his Afro-American identity and atypical geniality that seduces.

In this campaign, genes, personality and emotion weigh more heavily than ever. How many percentage points did Mrs. Clinton earn by shedding a tear, demonstrating that she’s not the hard, cold woman she was thought to be? At this stage, voters entrust support to the person who best embodies “their” America.

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