The Skeptical Optimist

Can I just say? I am addicted to this ongoing live broadcast of Obama’s inauguration festivities… it really feels like we’re watching history in the making. And I can’t help but feel happy for Americans, this represents so much in terms of what has gone before in their history and there seems to be so much joy and optimism in the air, in spite of everything. Can one person, one man change, if not everything then at least a lot? Or at least set things on the right path?

We can only hope so.

Tags: historic, inauguration, obama

We’ve just finished our live special for the US Presidential elections and I really did feel that in some small way that I was part of history. So much was riding on this election and it’s nice to know that in America, racial barriers have fallen somewhat and that there will be a black American First Family.

The one thing that really struck me the most was watching the President-elect stand on stage with his family and Joe Biden’s family  – here is the American Dream as imperfect as it may be in reality, brought to fruition. Just think of all the people who lived through segregation, discrimination and the legacy of slavery. It truly is an amazing time for them and for the future.

Tags: american election 2008, biden, first black president, obama

While presenting the news we aren’t supposed to usually editorialise or take political stances – but on the blog, I figure I’ll just come out and say it, I’m fairly pro-Obama and to my knowledge, a lot of my friends and colleagues are too. In fact, I recently took a class in my master’s degree in NUS where I ended up writing a paper on Obama’s memoir and speeches and how he has crafted a certain narrative and image for himself that is truly unlike any other politician white or black.

But, my political leanings aside, it’s been really interesting (and sometimes truly frustrating) to see how the media coverage of the American election in the US has played out. With embedded reporters with mini-cams in each campaign, every gaffe, every slip of tongue has been magnified and analysed and played again and again ad nauseum. Whether it’s Bill Clinton’s faux-pas or Obama’s “elitist” comments it’s all been fed to the beast that is 24 hour cable news network. I think that has really changed the tenor of the race. The other major factor of course has been video sharing websites like Youtube …. arguably more and more people are turning to new media to get their news. The striking thing is, how all this has had the power to change the image of a politician so drastically. Watching Hillary Clinton go from the presumed front-runner in the race, to the media’s sometime portrayal of her as a power-hungry political has-been was really bizarre. As was Obama’s fall from grace as the golden boy of new politics whom no scandal or partisan politics could touch. As one New York Times article put it, his feet have been “bloodied” like a marathon runner – and it really wasn’t just Hillary Clinton’s doing but the intense scrutiny of the media as well.

Taking this in from the position of the news reader is a different experience – you watch the news unfolding, you convey it as best you can, and sometimes you wonder what role you play in all this, whether you are at all guilty of any “spin”, whether anyone at all can be innocent and free from it. Something to ponder…

Whatever it is, it’s going to be a very interesting Presidential campaign and contest – let’s just see how the Americans rise up to the occasion.

Tags: clinton, obama, US elections