Can America Keep its Date with History?

I understand the innocuous enthusiasm of my friend. There are millions like her around the world who are already celebrating Obama’s victory even though the world’s costliest and grandest electoral battle is far from over. In fact, it hasn’t even begun yet in real sense of the word.

Having suffered the antics of the Bushies for the past eight years, the rest of the world is clearly more eager than the Americans themselves for the next president. And it has already concluded that it will be none other than the first African American candidate, who epitomises the best of America and breathtaking diversity of our world like no other US president or candidate ever has.

I wish I could share the infectious optimism of my friend. Of course, Obama is leading in all opinion polls. He has electrified America and fired up the imagination of the whole world like no other politician ever has. For the first time in the US history, newspapers from across the political divide have joined hands to endorse the first black candidate. Even traditionally Republican dailies like the New York Daily News and Chicago Sun Tribune are cheering for Obama. No candidate in the history of democracy has generated so much euphoria, so many news stories and commentaries and so much television footage.

This unprecedented popularity of the candidate is reflected in the delirious crowds he attracts wherever he goes, across the so-called blue and red states, from south to the north and from the West Coast to the East.

In another first, 44 million young Americans will be casting their vote for the first time on November 4th. Not surprisingly, most of the young and restless lot has thrown their weight behind the young Illinois senator.

In Dubai, thousands of miles from the US shores, my 10-year old who doesn’t even understand the first thing about democracy keeps clapping in excitement every time she watches the overwhelming sea of humanity sway to Obama’s tunes on CNN and Al Jazeera.

It seems nothing can stop our hero now from reaching the White House. Understandably, faceless multitudes like us around the world are excited beyond words about the prospect of a President Obama in the Oval Office, even though we are not going to take part in this vote.

And we hope to God this supercool dude - in my kid’s words – is the one who remains standing at the end of the final round of this ultimate thriller. Just as the magical Muhammad Ali, that other African American who gave his people a reason to smile, always did.

Logic and numbers say Obama should win, the Bradley Effect or not. But I am afraid deep in my heart that anything could happen before November 4. Given the chequered history of the US democracy, this fear is not entirely unreasonable. You can never be certain of victory until the last knock, as Ali would tell you. The Republicans can do anything to win, springing up a last minute, nasty surprise to turn the tide, a la Swift Boat. Besides, the US voters are notoriously fickle-minded.

Most importantly, many in and outside the US are still looking out for the R factor (not the Recession, silly!). Despite Obama’s positive numbers, there are many pragmatic minds that suspect the Race factor could still play a decisive role in this race.

At work, some of us have actually wagered on Obama with our bets locked away in an exquisite little box. My boss, ever the realist, is convinced America is not ready for a black President. The Bradley Effect could still prove a spoilsport on the day of reckoning (According to Bradley Effect, race-conscious US voters lie in opinion polls to conceal their choice that may be determined by the race factor.)

If that happens, it would be a tragedy not just for America but for all of us. For this is a historic opportunity for the US to undo all that our neocon friends have inflicted on the country and the rest of the world.

Of course, nothing can undo what has been done to Iraq and Afghanistan. You can’t bring all those innocent lives – more than a million - back. And perhaps it’s too late to do anything about the fine mess on other fronts, most importantly, in the financial world. The carnage on the Wall Street has hit everyone around the world where it hurts the most. And the worse may be still ahead of us.

An Obama victory offers America an incredible opportunity to rediscover itself as the land of the free, the original promised land that has inspired men and women with dreams of freedom, democracy and prosperity.

Not long ago, America was lionized as the champion of freedom and democracy here in the Middle East too. The people here saw America as the ultimate utopia and loved everything that it stood for. Today, calling someone American or pro-American is akin to abuse. No prizes for guessing who got America here. This worldview about America can change overnight if you have a President Obama in the Oval Office.

America has come a long way even in allowing an African American with a Muslim father to run for the top job in the land. I don’t think this would be possible anywhere in the world, perhaps with the exception of India. This wouldn’t be possible even in the ‘liberal, multicultural’ Europe. Frankly, I can’t imagine Barack Hussein Obama in Elysee Palace in Paris or 10, Downing Street in London. A black man in the White House? It can happen only in America.

So what we are seeing right now is history in the making. As boxing legend Don King puts in Financial Times, this is a great time to be alive. Picking up a black man to run for the White House -this is a giant leap for a country which not long ago witnessed blacks being sold and bought like cattle. This historic journey of America would be incomplete if Obama does not reach 1600, Pennsylvania Avenue.

Otherwise, whether Obama wins this battle for White House or not, he is already a winner in every sense of the word. It’s the Americans - and all of us - who stand to lose if Obama’s opponent wins. So can America keep its date with history? Can America do it? The world is waiting.

Aijaz Zaka Syed is Opinion Editor of Khaleej Times. Write to him at aijaz@khaleejtimes.com