http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/16232012-10-10T21:15:55+02:00Electoral aftermath<p>Today is the seventh of november, 2008. George W Bush is still president of the USA, although he`s probably planning his relocation to his home in Texas by now. Time for the new guy, the new commander in chief. The campaigns have ran - correct me if I`m wrong - for twenty months. They're over now, that's a relief to some, and perhaps a pain to others.</p><p>I was reading the local newspaper a few days ago and I stumbled upon this story. The reporter interviewed a woman who worked in a shopping mall at an airport. There was a tv next to her cashiers desk which blasted election news all day long and it wasn't making her happy to say the least. She heard just about every speech from both candidates. In fact; she stated that she would be able to give her own speech on just about every topic that was important in this presidential race. She's probably happy now cause this circus is over.</p>
<p>As you all know I have a fascination for America. I always follow the elections with great curiosity. So: is it a pain now that this gig is over? Not really. I do have to state that this race has been more interesting than any other I have witnessed so far. The reason that I`m saying this has to do with a medium which has been around since 2005: Youtube (and to a lesser extent it`s competitors). Both candidates have their own channels there so I was able to watch all their speeches and commercials when I wished. This really brought the whole thing a lot closer to me. Some campaign adds and parts of speeches are shown on the news and current affairs shows in Holland but I`m not always watching tv. I have more things to do you know. :-)</p>
<p>I understood that tv adds are always an important weapon in the race for the White House. One add which struck me in particular was <a href="http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=PjEKRIBDv6Q">this one</a>. It`s purpose is to convince the voter that Obama and his party are not a responsible choice for America. What keeps haunting me though is the fact that the quote from Obama in this video is completely taken from it`s context. To the less media literate out there (no offense): if you listen carefully you can hear that Obama`s quote ends very abruptly whilst the beginning sounds very fluent. The first point indicates that it`s very likely that the sentence was cut off. The fluent beginning indicates that it`s likely that the editor of this add cut into the middle of a sentence. Add some words like: "how dishonerable" and you`ve created a new message. </p>
<p><a href="http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=jVLronKrErY">Same goes for an add from the Obama campaign</a> in which is stated that John McCain is out of ideas and that he hasn't got a clue how to battle the financial crisis. I don't think that was completely true. McCain certainly had a plan. Even if it was written by his advisors.</p>
<p>I believe that these commercials are an important source of information. Or in this case: ad the word 'mis' to information and you`ve got a new message: misinformation. Doesn`t that make it MORE difficult to make a choice because you have to separate facts from smear? That`s what I would imagine really. We have one spin doctor here in the Netherlands who was trained in the USA. I once heard him say that content (read: the candidates political program) does not matter. It`s all about selling the person in question to the people. Politics as usual ey? <br/>
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Sure, these things happen in Holland too but not like this. Personalities matter (Wouter Bos of the Labour party is a very clear example of that. Especially during the 2003 elections) Politicians verbally attack each other with rhetorical arguments but not with adds like these. The election campaigns are shorter here too. Mostly a couple of months. I guess this kind of thing is what we call typically American here in the Netherlands. The same spin doctor I mentioned earlier also attended The President`s Night in the Melkweg on november 4th. He was there to give a lecture with some colleagues. As you know Erik and I were there too to report. (Will be up soon.) He said that there is only one reason why we don`t have such commercials: money. You need airtime to broadcast them. Political parties receive some airtime; mostly a few minutes and most of the times not on prime time. So hardly anyone watches that. Perhaps that will change in the future. I personally hope it doesn't. I am more for a campaign with arguments; not a personality race. <br/>
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What I do want to say is this: it was a beautiful moment when Barack was elected president. I was happy. He has talked the talk about change; now it`s time to walk the walk. I think his election is the symbol of tearing down the racial wall that has stood firmly in America for a long time now. Perhaps it will bring people together. I also think that he is the right person to restore American relations with many other countries in the world. Bush jr turned America into an island because of his "we're America and fuck the rest attitude." I am convinced that many people worldwide have started to dislike (perhaps even hate) America and it`s government because of this attitude. But what made me happy mostly is the fact that his election marked the end of eight years of neo-conservative policy. I think it hasn't done America any good. </p>
<p>Obama will have free play for the next two years since there is a democratic majority in both the senate and the house. I am anxious to see if he can really pull of the things he promised. Or just half of it for that matter. He already said it himself: one term might not be enough. Now you might call me a cynic but I also wondered if he really is the right choice for change. Isn't the Democratic party not just a part of the so-called `ol boys network in Washington? Aren't they rusted shut into the same political culture which they claim to reject? Maybe you should vote third party to really see some change. Maybe, maybe not. However it may be: I certainly hope that he will be able to pull it of and that he will go down in history as a president that really added the deeds to his words. I will be following you, and your actions closely Barack.</p>Tarikhttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/177ARTICLEnews