In one of my articles before the turn of the year, I listed the presidential election in the USA as one of the main highlights of 2012. In that article, I stated that this year will be marked by the presidential election in the USA given that the US is still too big and important to be in the shadows. Furthermore, issues of America's role in world and its diplomatic relationship with every corner of the globe as well as the performance of its economy and the policies of President Obama and his Republican rival could never be far from the surface.

And now, with the American presidential elections just a few days way, one can draw some general remarks about what we have been witness to so far.

The campaign has already become the most expensive ever and the most divisive in many decades. After months in which President Obama led in nationwide opinion poll, his Republican challenger Mitt Romney closed the gap. Polls show the candidates virtually tied countrywide. The race remains very close and will probably go to the wire.

Reports suggest that both Obama and Romney’s organisations will have spent nearly a billion dollars by Election Day, mostly on television and direct mail advertising. Advocacy organisations that are sympathetic but not directly linked to the candidates’ will be spending almost as much.

A point that is often missed on these shores is the marked division across the various states in terms of preference. Indeed, in the race to reach the 270 electoral votes needed for victory, each can count on his geographic base. For Obama, it is his “blue” states on the coasts and upper Midwest while for Romney there are his “red” ones across the south and the prairie heartland.

If Europeans could vote in the upcoming US presidential election, President Obama would win hands down. Obama surely wishes Europeans were voting as his approval ratings in Europe are roughly double those in the US. Surveys show that a flattering 81% of Europeans would vote for Barack Obama, with Germans among the most enamored: 97% speak kindly of the job he’s done. In other European countries, including France and Switzerland, he managed to poll over 90% approval ratings.

While a few years ago many were declaring that ideology is dead, this hypothesis was flatly rejected in the US Presidential elections. The campaign has been ideologically bitter and divisive. The main reason being that the Republican Party has moved so far to the right, tugged there by Tea Party supporters who now account for almost a third. Tea Partiers want smaller government, fewer regulations, and lower taxes for everybody. On the other, the Democrats’ are very much more receptive about the notion that the government needs to intervene in the economy to help the less fortunate.

One particular point of interest is the lack of attention given by the candidates to Europe. During four US presidential and vice presidential debates, lasting some six hours in total, it is remarkable how little airtime Europe or the EU received. There is surely more than one motive for this but without doubt it is also indicative of how much Europe has slipped off the radar across the Atlantic. It is remarkable that the EU debt crisis was not discussed in any meaningful way by either candidate even if the Obama administration must be thankful to the EU for straightening out the euro mess, at least enough so that it doesn’t spark a new global crisis and ripple over to the shores of the US just as Americans go to the polls.

Against this background, it is also remarkable how the Republican candidate Mitt Romney repeatedly tried to use the economic woes of individual eurozone members as a stick to beat his rival Barack Obama with. This was inevitably done due to the fact that after a decade of running up public deficits, the debt level of the USA is comparable to that of the EU as a whole although the US has avoided an EU-style crisis as markets continue to lend to it at lower rates.

The latest employment figures in the US are pointing towards a healthy recovery in the job market, although they are still lower than the pre-crisis levels. However, there are other factors that seem to be playing a strong part in the minds of the Americans. It seems that voting for Democrats or Republicans is based on other things apart from money and jobs. People are also looking at social rights, hope for a better future, and progressive ideals.

Thinking a bit about it, it is not so different from here after all.

 

Dr Anton Refalo is PL spokesman for Gozo