It was 4th
September 2012, Thursday morning at 4 am, Kuwait time. I jumped out of bed,
rushed in front of the TV and switched it on. US presidential debate started
already and Mitt Romney was explaining his vision of an America in the future. He
was very confident and performed much better than I expected. In fact, the
president was lacklustre. The incumbents are normally defensive and tend to
cover the faulty tracks they left behind. Obama’s job was tough in a bleak
economic scenario. He did not have much to flaunt from his first term except
the revival of the auto industry at Detroit and his much maligned and
controversial healthcare programme. He directed his message to the vast middle
class Americans luring them to safety net of more government spending and tax
reliefs. Mitt Romney was a winner at the end with his vision of creating more
jobs and generating more revenue.
One would
wonder what an Indian like me, based in Kuwait has to do with US presidential
election. The people of USA will elect a man to take care of their interest,
not mine. Ironically, the rest of the world also has a stake in US presidential
election. An average American voter probably is not conscious of the global
impact of their choice. While electing their commander-in chief, they also
elect a leader who has the power and capability of influencing the destiny of
people from distant nations.
I would
like Obama to have a second term. He is trying to pull America back home from
the remote corners of the globe. Mitt Romney seems to have other ideas. He
intends to raise the budget allocation for the military. Does he have plans for
a more intense global role? I have a feeling that he does. Republicans of all
hue have been critical of Obama’s version of the current Middle Eastern policy
of neutrality. They want more US involvement. Mitt Romney, on earlier
occasions, rejected the policy of granting Iran any more concession on the
suspension of its clandestine nuclear programme. If elected, he might pick up a
leaf from George W Bush foreign policy manual and launch a campaign against
Iran. As a resident of Kuwait, I would hate to see another war in my
neighbourhood.
As an
Indian national, I do not endorse Obama’s plans to stop exporting jobs abroad.
The outsourcing of US jobs has benefitted India immensely. I shall, however,
treat this as a minor issue because for any business to be profitable, the
economic factor translating to obtaining best value for money is something
beyond the control of any administration. USA which boasts of being a free
county, and rightfully so, will not and cannot control their entrepreneurs’ way
of doing business. Hence, his declaration of stopping job export is at best an
election rhetoric.
One would
wonder whether this much hyped debates make an impact on the voting pattern.
The event started in 1960 when a youthful John F Kennedy faced Richard Nixon.
The former’s good looks and sophisticated grooming carried the day for him.
Overnight, Kennedy’s rating zoomed at the cost of Nixon’s. I think in no other
country, the contenders come face to face before an election.
In a
parliamentary democracy like ours in India, the chief executive (Prime
Minister) is elected by the members of parliament after the election. There is
no definite candidate before an election rendering a similar debate completely
irrelevant.
4 September 2012
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