While vacationing this summer in Australia, I was amazed to see the amount of exposure the Democratic nominating contest received. Everywhere I went, there on the nightly news were daily updates on the battle between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the nomination. Articles ran on front pages, talk show hosts gabbed and pundits weighed in. Australia was abuzz at who would win the nomination to face Sen. John McCain for the presidency of the United States.
I have family living abroad in Sydney. Their connections allowed me to mix it up with the locals at the coffee house, the fruit stand, butcher shop and the pubs in neighborhoods all over town. The conversations would start out with the cursory, “Where are you from in the States?” question, followed by, “How do you like Australia?” “Is it cheaper here?” (it is not), “Do you own a gun?” and, finally, “Who do you think will become president?”
Amongst Australians, there is a foregone conclusion that whoever wins the Democratic nomination will beat the Republicans. I was peppered with questions about who I thought would win and why.
“How do you feel about a woman being President?” “Will Americans really vote for a black man?” “Will they end the war in Iraq?” “What can be done about the American and world economies?”-a dizzying array of questions I felt inadequate to answer but wanted to talk about.
One woman expressed to me her great admiration for Obama, but also her feeling that he should not run because of race-based threats to his safety. I assured her that his safety would be an imperative to the Secret Service, not because he was a black man, but as leader of the free world. She did not appear to be so sure.
One pub’s patrons supported Clinton because they thought they would get two U.S. presidents for the price of one. I suspect that they supported her because of Bill’s notorious, extracurricular activities.
To my surprise, no one expected or seemed to comprehend McCain’s winning. Their view was tempered by Iraq and the assumption that United States voters would not support a candidate looking to continue the war. Australia sent 1,000 troops to fight alongside U.S. citizens in Iraq and Afghanistan; their support cannot be questioned.
Alongside many U.S. citizens, they have come to question the motivations and intentions of the current Bush administration, and they feel the pinch at the pump, as all countries now do.
The world is more connected now than at any time in history. The European Union passed the United States as the largest economy in the world in 2007. The Internet allows the transfer of information in seconds, and in some places, telecoms charge mere pennies for country-to-country conversations. More than ever, the world is watching what the United States does now. The economy, the environment and the war are not only the top three issues for U.S. voters, but for the whole world. Jobs, unemployment, Iraq and pollution are issues facing people worldwide, and the United States has an opportunity to be a trendsetter, once again.
It is up to the American people to educate themselves on the issues, register and make a choice this fall. Obama and McCain are our choices for president. The world is watching and waiting to follow our lead.
Lew Griffith is a graduate student at Saint Louis University.
