November 5, 2008

I woke up around noon today, and as soon as I remembered why I was up late last night, I bolted out of the bedroom and switched on the TV. Our TV is pretty damaged, and only the lower half has any pictures on it. The top half is black and unforgiving, probably punishing us for using it 12 hours a day. But that didn't matter. Plus, CNN had their news bar on the lower half anyway. I couldn't see any faces. I couldn't see what Obama or McCain or any of the anchors looked in those moments. I relied on brain images to supply what was missing. Like the rest of the world, I spent hours on CNN, waiting for the history-defining declaration to be made. Along the way, I saw news bits like...

"40 dead as ferry overturns in the Philippines"

"45 dead as bus goes over a gorge in India"

"BMW heiress blackmailed for billions"

"Stocks down by 62%"

"Palin found not guilty of abusing power"

"Six French Aids kidnapped in Somalia"

etcetera, etcetera.

Watching CNN gives you a lot of information you don't need to know.

At around 1:30 PM (Philippine Time), it was apparent that the 44th President elect of the United States of America was going to be Barack Obama. McCain conceded. And from what I was hearing (never mind the "seeing" part) it was a landslide. Not a complete landslide, of course, but it was like three-fourths of the Americans made its decision and they didn't let anything stop them. I heard 95% of the black population voted for Obama, and States that voted for Bush in 2004 voted for Obama this time. Even Arizona, McCain's hometown, didn't completely support McCain.

(During a program called "Africa Watch" on CNN, Kenyans and other Africans were shown to be inflicted with "Obama Mania." Symptoms? Wearing shirts with Obama's likeness, reading his books and biographies, chanting "We Love Obama" in the streets, and watching his speeches on DVD. And you've got to admit, his speeches are pretty good. I was afflicted with minor Obama Mania too, but I was restricted to reading and listening to debates and speeches. There's something in him that just makes you stop, look and listen. He's like a noisy Gandhi.)

A mock election in the Philippines (staged by the US embassy) saw an Obama victory too, with 400 votes for him, compared to the 100 for McCain. They let the Pinoys use the technology that the US uses. I heard two types of it: one's the "shade the circle" type, like the ones used in standardized tests, and the other is a touch screen voting apparatus. I don't know what they were trying to do exactly, but it had me salivating at the thought of a computerized election. Imagine, a country as big as the US got results for their elections barely 15 hours later.

A few days ago, it was reported that on a popular betting sight, 8 out of ten people were betting on Obama. I guess they won too.

I wonder what the Europeans think. Imagine them discussing this over tea in their killer accents.

We're halfway across the world, but it's our election too. We don't have a vote, and that's why we're probably more anxious than the Americans to see whether the Democrat or the Republican would win office. Whatever happens there affects what happens here. To those who don't have an idea about the candidates, the logic is simple. Bush is Republican. He screwed America into the next century. McCain is Republican too. Screw McCain, vote the other guy. Oh, he's black? So what?

To others, the only part they hear is that Obama will end the war in Iraq, and that is reason enough. To me, that is reason enough too.

(Some are of the opinion that McCain would not only continue war in Iraq, as he stated, but would extend the war to Iran. Note: Both Obama and McCain are on the side of the Israelis. Hmmm. Imagine what Sarah Palin would do-- now that woman was scary. I've got nothing against rifle-toting beauty queens, but when you say that global warming is not affected by man's affairs, I seriously begin to doubt your sanity. Plus, did you hear her interviews??? She's clueless! To be fair, I have no idea what Joe Biden's up to. The only thing I know is that he's been in Washington for a while. The most memorable, er, memory I have is after the third Presidential debate where McCain mentioned "Joe the Plumber," and a string of Joes, Josies and Janes popped up. Joe the cook, Josie the maid, Jane the street-sweeper, Joe the clerk, etctera. Someone came up with "Joe the Biden." It was pretty funny.)

During a speech a while ago, the president elect said "this [US] is the greatest nation on earth." I thought it was true. (They could be surpassed by Japan economy-wise soon, what with Wall Street issues, but hey.) I thought that if America, which has the history of having some of the most violent civil rights battles, can see beyond race and elect someone like Obama, then that in itself is an achievement. Sure, I'm not there, and I don't have any plans of migrating there. But it's inspiring. It makes you realize that even if you were born a nobody, but if you're good enough, then you can achieve what you want to. I read Obama's biography, and it was definitely different from most big-shot US politicians. While McCain is a third generation politico who literally grew up inside Washington offices, Obama was half-Kenyan and grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia. Never affluent, never powerful, but always industrious and intelligent. He made his way through college on scholarships, and eventually got into Harvard Law. During his second year (based on grades and an essay writing contest) he was chosen as EIC of the Harvard Law Review. After graduation he became a community organizer in Chicago, where he solved the problems of a lot of the black communities. He began literally from scratch, and got to a place most people never even dreamed of.

(During a speech, Obama explained that his name sucked that bad because his parents never dreamed that he would run for office, let alone presidency. He also noted that he was not born in a manger, in reference to the term "black Jesus" that the media attached to him.)

I saw the coverage of the victory party too. (You have got to love CNN). Oprah, one of the first ones to endorse Obama, was literally jumping up and down with delight. And she wasn't the only one.

America needs a change, and they elected a man who advocated for change-- despite his age, despite his humble background, despite his race. They voted for change itself. It's going to take a lot of work... Like I said, Bush screwed US into the next century. But the new president may just be the change they need.

The Philippines needs a change too. Maybe even more change than the US does.

The question is, does anybody have the guts to be our Obama?

Post-scriptum:

After I drafted this, I went CNNing again. They were playing the clip of Germans, celebrating the victory of Obama.

Turns out they were rooting for him too. They also showed the celebrations in Kenya. Now I know EVERYBODY was happy there.

Then they played Obama's victory speech.

After I listened, I realized three things: That Americans who voted for him were right on, that Americans who didn't vote for him probably now wish they did, and that the Philippines needs a leader like him, not badly, DESPERATELY.

I'm not American, but during that speech I was really touched. If I was in his audience, I would probably be crying my eyes out. I predict that years from now, whenever anyone mentions "believing in the impossible," the name "Obama" will have to be mentioned too.

The hope in Obama's voice, the tears of joy of 220, 000 guests in his victory party, the very aura of unity and euphoria in the air-- they were all quite clear on my half-a-screen halfway across the world.

I wish I could feel that a bit closer to home too.