Monday 5 November 2012

Calling America



If Europeans could vote in the US Presidential election, Barack Obama could relax; he would win by a mile. He is much more European than Mitt Romney, which is strength in the eyes of the wider world but a liability to many in America. He pushed through healthcare reform to nudge the US towards the European ideal of universal healthcare. He has also prodded America to wards considering the possibility of taking action over climate change. These small changes are welcome but could be lost if Obama loses.

It is now for the US electorate to decide. This is the electorate that brought George Bush to power effectively killing international climate negotiations and taking the country down a path that made the US, which had been widely admire and respected, into the bogeyman of world affairs to many people in the Middle East and across the world, fermenting the terrorism he purported to fight. From a European perspective, electing George Bush was a mistake; to re-elect him after finding out his true colours, smacked of foolishness.

The US people have a choice, whether to rebuild the international reputation of America or retreat into a particular set of American values espoused by Mitt Romney, which look increasingly outdated for the challenges the world now faces. There is a worrying precedent in history; one-term president Jimmy Carter tried to take the US down a track of environmental responsibility but he was ousted by Ronald Reagan, who on entering the White House took the symbolic step of taking down the solar panels installed by Jimmy Carter.

America, it is your choice and the world is watching and waiting.

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