Editorials

A great change is taking place on the U.S. political scene, and another fundamental one is approach- ing in what has been by far the longest and most fascinating electoral process in that country's modern political history.Only a few days before the elections, polls show that it is practically certain that Barack Obama will occupy the White House next January 20.All the polls, from the general ones to those taken by specific socio-economic, race-based, religious and generational groups, put Senator Obama leading John McCain by an average of 10 points.It is just a matter of time before the hypotheses of Obama's victory are confirmed.If Obama wins, we will be witnessing the most dramatic, transcendental moment of modern U.S. political history: the most symbolic place of power in the United States -Lyndon B. Johnson referred to it as the house that is not only white outside, but inside-will be occupied by a black politician, constituting a radical turn in the history of the U.S. presidency.Obama will have inspired the majority of his country's electorate with Martin Luther King's maxim that he likes repeating so much: "the fierce urgency of now," that is meeting up with history today, just around the corner.Several factors are present in this great political moment.On the one hand, U.S. economic and political decadence has become unbearable, and, given the standard of living of the people and the leading class, this is not something any politician with aspirations can play around with.Having been the superpower for decades and a singular democracy has been a way of life to which everyone has become accustomed.And, it is to be expected that the idea is that things continue that way.As the Bush administration begins fading from the political scene ahead of time, it is in itself evidence of the urgent need for someone to occupy the presidency who proposes the recovery of lost well being and power.This can be via applying a new, broader social policy, by going back to "soft, smart power," or by recovering a multilateral approach in foreign policy.Obama has appeared in the political-electoral firmament as the competent option, as the politician who understands the need for this change generation-wise, and as a "transformational figure" of change, as General Colin Powell called him when he threw him his support.The paradox: by presenting himself as the "war hero" and the "hard" candidate, McCain was left without a platform.As a result, he had no proposal in the face of two things: the possibility of winning in Iraq politically and militarily and the solution to the most important economic crisis since the Great Depression, both inherited from Bush, his ominous shadow.So, his political persona deteriorated because of three strategic mistakes: first, his inability to articulate a fitting proposal for these crises; second, by opting for dirty campaigning against Obama, which has backfired on him -Powell himself criticized him harshly for it when he supported Obama; and third, the grave mistake in judgment of choosing inexperienced, ignorant Sarah Palin as his running mate, who has scared off undecided voters and independents, decisive in an election like this one.With things as they are, only two eventualities could stop Obama's victory: if Al Qaeda became the big elector and perpetrated a destabilizing or terrorist action that would help McCain win.It is more than obvious that, for Bin Laden, the election of the black senator would put an end to the business of war he started in 2001; that is why he prefers McCain and the continued exercise of "hard power."The second would be that a significant number of white voters, caught up in the Bradley-Wilder syndrome in the solitude of the polling booth, decided to vote based on race for McCain.Everything seems to indicate, however, that neither of these two scenarios is in the interest of either a rather worse-for-wear Bush or an angry U.S. society.The United States is not the only partner of Mexico's that has gone through controversial elections.Canada's balloting has been completely overshadowed by its neighbor's race: 37 days of whirlwind campaigns cannot compare with the U.S. electoral paraphernalia.In fact, some media have even suggested that the Obama-McCain face-off was followed even more closely by Canadians than the race between Conservatives and Liberals (which Prime Minister Stephen Harper won, although with a minority in Parliament).This victory was due in large part to the fact that Harper was able to unite two parties on the conservative side of the political spectrum, and now it is the Liberals, who have governed for most of Canadian history, who are divided and have a weak opposition leader, Stéphane Dion, about to resign.

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