With Egyptians headed to the polls on May 23 to choose the nation’s first democratically-elected head of state, columnist Dr. Hamdi Radwan of Egypt’s Amal al-Oumma (Voice of the Nation) offers his readers a look at the U.S. presidential race, using it to highlight what is lacking in Egypt’s nascent democratic system. His misconceptions are as interesting as his factual assertions.
For Egypt’s Amal al-Oumma, Dr. Hamdi Radwan starts out this way:
As I follow the Egyptian presidential election, I pray to Allah that he chooses someone who will lift her up and strengthen her so Egypt can take its place among nations as it should, Allah willing.
I have also been following the American presidential election.
As anyone can notice, the Republican Party (if you like, the religious party) has shown that it opposes the Democrats (liberals, if you like) on issues like gay marriage and abortion. But the real question is who can pull the country out of economic crisis and guarantee that it will continue to remain the global leader. Regardless of party, the average American voter will choose the candidate most able to fix the country and won’t give a damn who is favored by the media, which loves to make mountains from molehills.
There are some media outlets that support the Republican Party, and most of these are religiously extremist. It was they who spread the news, before the Iraq invasion, that George W. Bush was a born again Christian and would crush the rise of Islam. There are also channels that support Democrats and broadcast their ideas.
It is fair to say that to some extent, there is fairness in presenting the ideas of both parties and enabling a heated debate without insults, where everyone can express their points of view before allowing the voter to decide.
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