Asian Tribune: "Why is Obama the favorite of the rich and powerful Democrats?"

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Sun Feb-10-08 05:50 PM
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Asian Tribune: "Why is Obama the favorite of the rich and powerful Democrats?"

Some international perspective, showing wariness of Obama's relative inexperience and listing some of the practical reasons why a Hillary Clinton presidency would be welcome overseas:

US Election: Why is Barack Obama the favourite of rich and powerful Democrats?

Mon, 2008-02-11 04:01
By Raj Gonsalkorale

...Barack Obama, if elected the President, will obviously not make the mistakes that George W Bush has made, but his campaign rhetoric so far has produced little evidence that he is aware of the value of alliances. It is ironic that he is campaigning against the influence of power blocks locally while some of his biggest supporters as per recent US polls are the well to do people in many of the States where primaries have been held, who would very likely want him to serve their interests if he wins the Presidency. It is a well known fact that the rich and the powerful operate through very influential lobbyists, and although Barack Obama has gone hoarse telling his faithful that he will not be a captive of such Washington lobbyists, he will find it impossible to ignore those rich and the powerful lobbyists when they call on him to repay the support and funding they have given him to get to the White House. It is more than likely that these influential people think that they could deal more easily with an inexperienced person rather than a tough, experienced campaigner like Hillary Clinton, as they know that rhetoric is good to win elections but is short-lived and disappears after the first rush of euphoria after an election. It is said that Nelson Mandela had promised washing machines to every household just prior to his first election and that people had lined up in shops to get their washing machines soon after the election, and naturally had to go away quite disappointed! Although the US electorate has moved very far from washing machines, Barack Obama’s rhetoric and motherhood statements about change could be equally short-lived.

Hillary Clinton on the other hand has a large support base amongst the not so rich and the disadvantaged and her campaign financing has suffered on account of this support considering their inability to plough in large injections of funding for her campaign. She is also on record as saying she will listen to those poor and disadvantaged people who support her and at the same time she will be pragmatic about the environment she and all other Presidential aspirants live in when introducing change. This support must surely be quite irksome to the upper classes that would rankle at the thought of a real people’s President who would introduce measures to help the poor and the disadvantaged.

There is something facetious about Barack Obama and if he does go to win the Democratic nomination and the Presidency, American people should expect a different man in Barack Obama once he is President, not the messiah he is painting himself to be, the one who is promising to bring in “change” in bucket loads, the one who would bring all US troops from Iraq within an year, and who would single handedly change the mindset of Americans about how they perceive the rest of the world.

For the rest of the world, they need an American President who understands and values alliances, partnerships, who understands other power blocks like China, India, the EU, Russia and the emerging powers of some South American countries, and the need to work in harmony with them. They need a President who will talk tough with Israel and take a strong lead in bringing a settlement to the Palestinian conflict. Whatever issues that may impact on the US electorate, efficient and effective management of international issues will have a major impact on the American people as well as the people in the rest of the world. George W Bush has spent more than 3 trillion dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan and left the US in severe debt, resulting in major economic crises in his country, and as a result of that, creating negative economic waves throughout the world. Barack Obama may win the Presidency, but it is unlikely that he will be able to be the President that the world would prefer to have compared to Hillary Clinton. The world is certain to be better served by her sound pragmatism and her experience, and by those experienced people who surround her, including her husband. The American people too will reap the benefits of sound international policy and practice by such a Commander in Chief....

More: http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node/9575