While Barack Obama has received unrivaled praise from around the world, in some quarters it seems any of the three remaining contenders will go a long way toward dispelling the perceived stench of the Bush years. In regard to the three U.S. presidential frontrunners, Kennedy Alencar of Brazil’s Folha newspaper writes, ‘The three seem capable of positively exercising America’s undeniable global leadership, exactly contrary to George W. Bush – president for a period of eight years during which the United States went backwards.’
By Kennedy Alencar
Translated By Brandi Miller
February 8, 2008
Brazil – Folha – Original Article (Portuguese)
With Republican candidate for President Mitt Romney’s withdrawal from the race on Thursday (Feb. 7), the process of choosing candidates for the most powerful chair in the world narrowed for the better. The election takes place in November.
In the Republican Party, Senator John McCain has established himself as the presumptive candidate. On the Democratic side, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are tied up in a battle that seems far from over.
For some analysts, Hillary and Obama are at the center of a somewhat suicidal duel – one undermining the other while McCain runs along alone. That’s an exaggeration. Anyone who saw the Democratic debates saw a high level contest. Were there any blows below the belt? There were. But they haven’t been the rule in the clash between Hillary and Obama – senators from the States of New York and Illinois.
In Brazil, part of the media treats Obama like the Collor phenomenon [Brazil’s President from 1990-92 ], a young man without the preparation and who could disappoint when it comes time to take difficult decisions. Fiddle faddle. If Hillary sounds more prepared in areas like the economy, Obama oozes more than charisma and is far from being a mere adventurer.
“Obamania” has been good for the United States. Young people who were apathetic before have begun to believe in politics. Hillary had to descend from her pedestal as favored candidate – and she learned in this process. The message of change promoted by Obama has been fully integrated into her campaign. She has mobilized her electorate. She has aired out her electoral platform. An eventual government of the Senator will probably not have the mark of an administration of wizened Washington insiders.
Despite being in favor of the Iraq War, McCain has progressive ideas about the treatment of illegal immigrants and the role of the Hispanic population in the country. He supports, for example, the settlement of the 12 million illegal immigrants there and reform of the immigration laws.
The challenge for McCain will be to resist appeals for him to tilt further to the right in order to win support from traditional Republican voters. In such circumstances, this Vietnam War veteran would be shooting himself in the foot. It doesn’t seem plausible that the conservative electorate would board a Democrat’s canoe because the Republican candidate from Arizona is too centrist. Does anyone think these voters would go for Hillary or Obama?
There is good news from the American primaries. Hillary, Obama, and McCain are some of the best people for charting America’s undeniable global leadership. The three seem capable of positively exercising this leadership, exactly contrary to George W. Bush – president for a period of eight years during which the United States went backwards. Under Bush, there were restrictions of civil rights and the use of torture as an officially sanctioned method of investigation. And he implemented an ineffective method of combating terrorism based on lies which resulted in the tarnishing of the image of the United States around the world.
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