Excitement, depression as Americans go to the polls Dear Tingasiga: Barack Obama will almost certainly be elected president of the United States tomorrow, capping an extraordinary rise of a man from a barely known junior senator from Illinois to the most powerful person on earth.
However, even if he loses the election to Senator John McCain, a possibility that cannot be discounted until the official results come out tomorrow night, Obama has already won a high place of honour in the annals of human history. No African-American politician has galvanised Americans to a cause the way Obama has done. No single politician from any country has captured the hearts and minds of so many people on all continents the way Obama has. Not Britain's Sir Winston Churchill. Not America's John Kennedy. Not even the iconic Nelson Mandela of South Africa. If the world's citizens could vote in tomorrow's US election, there is no doubt that Obama would defeat McCain by a landslide. To be sure, here in Canada, poll after poll have consistently shown Obama enjoying the support of over 70 per cent of Canadians. More than the political, economic and military impact that Obama will have on the United States and the world, his biggest and most important impact will be on the attitude and self-worth of the African-American child and youth. If an African-American can become president of the United States, then there is no vocation that will be considered to be beyond the reach of African Americans. From now on, all American children, not just those of European stock, can dream of becoming presidents of their great country. Truth to tell, older African-Americans will also walk with their heads high, with that uniquely African body language that will silently sing, in the words immortalised by Dr Martin Luther King Jr., "free at last, free last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" If there is one sad aspect to Obama's meteoric rise to the top of American political leadership, it is the fact that the people who sired him or raised him and prepared him for his future role as leader of the world are not witnessing his exceptional accomplishment. Dr Barack Obama Sr, his Kenyan father, died in 1982. Dr Stanley Ann Dunham, the European American mother died of ovarian cancer in 1995. Mr Lolo Soetoro, Barack's Indonesian step-father, died of liver disease in 1987. Mr Stanley Armour Dunham, Barack's European American grandfather, died in 1992. Only Barack's maternal grandmother, Ms Madelyn Payne Dunham, is still alive. However, she too is reported to be too ill to travel or to be otherwise engaged in her grandson's triumphs. One simply wishes Barack's parents and grandparents had been able to savour this moment with their son who has done everything that was asked of him. Meanwhile, an American friend of mine has just sent me an e-mail which has tempered my building excitement over Obama's anticipated victory. Reflecting an unbearable anxiety that has millions of Americans in its thrall my friend wrote: "Seriously, Muniini, you must count your blessings that you live in Canada and not the USA. Everyone I know here in the USA cannot wait any longer for November 4, 2008 to find out if we are condemned to another four years of a Republican administration with John McCain as the early president and, with a strong possibility (given McCain's health), of a Sarah Palin presidency! I have lost count of the number of people who have told me that they are going into a deep depression if McCain wins. Contrary to any polls you might read, the election is going to be very close. There is a possibility of a surprise victory by McCain. I remember as a child in Uganda seeing the Belgians fleeing Congo into Uganda at the time of Congo's independence. There might be a similar flight to Ontario of despondent former USA citizens after November 4, 2008." My friend is so terrified of a McCain win that he is planning to turn off the TV and his telephone from the morning of November 4th to the morning of November 5, 2008 lest he should hear bad news. This sentiment is probably as widespread as is Obama's passionate support around the world. One worries about the potential for mass depression hitting millions of people, with unpredictable consequences. People have invested a large chunk of their emotional health in an Obama victory. This is as good a time as any to remind ourselves that in a functioning democracy, which the American version is, the citizens have a duty to accept as leader, any person who wins the election, even when we cannot stand the thought of it. The likelihood of McCain winning this election is infinitesimally small, at least according to the polls. But surprises could occur. Sarah could find herself a heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States. It is a scary thought, but true democrats have a duty to accept the people's verdict, even a nasty one, and must live with it for the next four years. Even if that choice is Sarah Palin, the real candidate of the Republican party. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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