4 November 2008
Tuesday November 4 2008 is one day that will go down in the history books.
Galvanising people to vote is what has really happened in the last 24 hours in America. The fact people poured out of their homes to vote, many for the first time or lined up for 3-4 hours to vote gives a sense that maybe we can do this here.
I sat and watched the numbers roll over yesterday (we are a day ahead in NZ) with friends and we were all quiet as the numbers rolled over. I for one was flabbergasted. Obama's 349/162 victory over McCain is astonishing. Eventually the champagne was popped, and drinks drunk by Obama supporters, but a few of us were stunned by the result.
Obama's first speech as President elect was very impressive, he touched on the personal, the big picture together with history.
But I am not an Obama nor a McCain supporter. What I am a supporter of is encouraging people to vote for what they believe in, for a society they want to live in where people are treated with decency instead of greed. This is what the campaign was really about.
As New Zealand goes into our own election this Saturday, it will be the next election which the left here must work to galvanise the vote in any shape or form. This needs to happen urgently here so the next generation are not left with a sense of being deserted by those who went before them.
I don't think much will change under the new President elect from the current administration. What I would like to see is the people who voted to keep the pressure on their new government and speak out when what has been promised is not delivered.
Unfortunately, like here, two parties generally are the ones in the press.
This election has woken people up in the US and that is the first step. Will it now be the right platform for Nader to push through and rise for the left?