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The political background against which the 2008 US Elections took place was hardly a predictable one. (R)Senator John McCain of Arizona, a decorated war veteran and proven leader ran against the relatively unknown (D) Senator Barack Obama of Illinois.
One major difference separated these two men: Barack Obama’s charisma and political savvy. Senator John McCain certainly fit the bill to be appointed to the highest office in the world, but he lacked the flair and flamboyance of Senator Barack Obama.
While Obama was able to rattle off the right words as effortlessly as greased lightning, McCain would fumble and stutter – not through his inability for structured thought and strategic leadership, but rather through his incompetence as a public speaker.
Obama wooed voters with his dynamic approach. He made use of the internet, public funds and a huge disillusioned base of Bush-era fatigued voters. The failed war in Iraq – often cited as the legacy of the Bush Presidency, was usurped by the Obama administration for all its worth.
Voters needed a scapegoat and all Bush-era doctrine and foreign policy bore the brunt. It was a case of old-school Republican failures vs. an era of Democratic liberalism and inflated government. Obama promised a rapid de-escalation of the Iraq war effort, a focus on education and clean energy, affordable health care, special attention on minority rights and a total break from the past.
McCain was blindsided by his own campaign. They painted him as the humble, decorated war hero of yesteryear. McCain has been toted as a self-made man, a leader of men and a qualified candidate for the world’s highest office. But McCain failed to offer what it was that the Obama campaign was so successfully promoting – Change.
Americans had long grown tired and distrustful of a war effort that was based on false assumptions. There were no WMD in Iraq. It appeared to the public as if Bush and Cheney were pursuing a personal agenda of the old-school Republican think tank: attack Iraq, destroy its infrastructure and seek to impose democratic governance through unilateral initiatives. Bush was a man of action, not scared to act alone when the world dragged its feet. This proved fatal at some points, especially when America’s actions were deemed illegal and expansionist by parties in the region.
Bush acted on his threats and he cautioned the world against the rising threat of Islamic militancy. The EU and other allies of the United States were war weary and they were reluctant to commit themselves to an unpopular military campaign with no end in sight. Britain, a longtime friend of the United States, withdrew its forces followed by other countries. Owing to global protests against the war efforts, rising costs in civilian and military casualties and the enormous financial burden entailed, the war rhetoric was losing support at a geometric rate.
Against this backdrop of declining support for President Bush – all-time low approval ratings ensued – Barack Obama ascended the ranks of the Democrat Party. He brushed passed Hillary Clinton who ultimately had nothing but praise for the new candidate. Obamania had gripped the world. Barack Obama was simply unstoppable. He spoke of change, of Main Street and not Wall Street, he championed the little man and not the corporate, he spoke effortlessly and plainly of the challenges that Americans face on a daily basis.
Then the Achilles Heel of the Republican campaign struck. The Global Crisis of late 2008. Within a short period of time the housing crisis, mortgages banks, sub-prime lending rates, credit crunch and international insurers and financial/investment houses hit the headlines. It wasn’t good news that was awaiting the world. Massive and widespread layoffs and unemployment ensued; corporate bankruptcies by the dozen, home foreclosures, credit drying up and a crisis of unimaginable proportions gripped the global market. Fear and panic swept like a raging wildfire through the hearts of Americans as first their jobs, then their homes and their families’ livelihoods were at stake.
Obama was elected to the highest office. McCain was relegated to the annals of history as the man who challenged, but was ultimately defeated by President Obama. This was the coup de grace of the Obama camp. McCain and his old school Republican friends were seen as the enemy by the American people. Bush and anyone associated with him was a symbol of failure, of unilateralism, of deceit. The Republicans were seen as pro-corporate and against the average working-class American. Obama promised tax-cuts to 95% of Americans, according to his perception of income brackets. McCain could only cling to Obama’s coattails and offer the American public that he would work alongside Obama in the new presidency.
Obama seized on this crisis and presented what appeared like a workable plan to the American people. This came in the form of a massive and unprecedented bailout. Hundre