Friday, May 24, 2013
London Evening Standard
Barack Obama has crowned his re-election with a victory speech that embodied all his old, inspirational rhetoric.
"We are an American family and we rise and fall together," he declared. Yet the invocation of a nation united despite its differences is at odds with the bitterness of the campaign and the closeness of the outcome.
This vote was an affirmation of U.S. democracy.
Obama in his victory speech reminded us that this election was all about the power of citizens to bring about change. It's easy to forget that politics is about big things. The campaign was often negative but the parties did address, head on, very important issues about the role of the state and the way government should respond to economic challenges.
Defeat for the Republicans on such fundamental issues does not bode well for the party: there is likely to be fierce debate now about where it goes next.
The one dispiriting aspect of this election was the cost. It was the most expensive in history, at around $2.6 billion.
But a great thing about any U.S. election is that it reawakens our own democratic instincts. The razzmatazz that Americans bring to the campaigns may be different from our approach but it is still infectious.
A presidential election is a great democratic event -- for them and for us.
-- London Evening Standard, Nov. 7
Tweet
Copyright ©2013 MaineToday Media, Inc.
Jobs
Cars
Real Estate
Maine Yellow Pages
Facebook
Twitter
Further Discussion
Here at KJonline.com we value our readers and are committed to growing our community by encouraging you to add to the discussion. To ensure conscientious dialogue we have implemented a strict no-bullying policy. To participate, you must follow our Terms of Use.Questions about the article? Add them below and we’ll try to answer them or do a follow-up post as soon as we can. Technical problems? Email them to us with an exact description of the problem. Make sure to include: