I must confess, I am obsessed with the American Presidential elections. This is ironic, considering the fact that I have never lived in America, and more importantly, I have, from time to time, proclaimed rather loudly, that I can not stand the country, or its people. Knowing this, my good friend asked me recently why I cared enough to read 3 American newspapers daily.
My answer was that my interest was academic. I have been following and writing about this particular election for last year. However, there is more to this than just my interest in continuity. I am fascinated by how an entire country votes, especially this country that is now in shambles, and this same country that managed to elect George Bush, twice. In America, the election is a microcosm populated by candidates, aides, pundits and reporters. In India, elections are decided by television sets. Our politics are no less political than theirs, and yet, somehow, our election is much more...I think transparent.
The motivation of the American people to vote for a specific candidate worries and fascinates me all at the same time. There are candidates I loathe, and some I respect grudgingly, but that pales in comparison to my fear that a majority of voters will put into power a man and woman so woefully incompetent, to run a country that is repulsively, to me, the most powerful in the world. So what do I do? I read every article published by the New York Times about the election, I read tracking polls, and reports on them, I watch YouTube incessantly, I read about the debates, after watching the debates.
All of this, of course, comes to naught. I am not now, nor will I ever be an American. More importantly, it would not be physically possible for me to care less for them, except if they all go in November and vote John McCain and Sarah Palin into office. Enough said.
