When this article appears in print the American people will be deciding their own destiny and that of the world in general – beyond their own continent.

Even when America fielded mediocre candidates I always found the American Presidential elections simply electrifying – making you wish that you were there, although obviously thanks to CNN and the other global networks one can follow proceedings nowadays in real time.

Whether Obama wins or not (and I am sure that you know by now where my preferences lie) Malta should strive to continue strengthening its ties with the American government, nation and people. In all pivotal areas – economic, commercial, educational, environmental, technological, cultural and also security wise.

But if there is anything that must be learned from this election regardless of who the winner will be is that apart from Obama’s inspirational image and characteristics, I was even more impressed by the slick and professional campaign he ran. It was something every modern contemporary party should try to emulate, obviously within the limits of its own budgetary constraints.

Having long been logged in to the Obama campaign on line there was a telling message that I got signed by Joe Biden which should be an eye opener for us all. And I say so with sincerity and without bitterness. Meaning well and sincerely wishing that a hopefully reinvented and remodelled Labour Party under Joe Muscat’s leadership will follow the Biden lead.

Biden’s message ran as follows:

“Anyone who tells you this election is already decided is dead wrong. Let’s not forget the 2000 election when Al Gore was up by double digits in October. The surest way to lose a race is to slow down with the finish line in sight. We’re taking no chances. We’ve planned the biggest get-out-the-vote operation in history and we need to make sure that every voter has their voice heard.

“This campaign has fought for every inch, and now is not the time to take anything for granted. To get out the vote we need to knock on hundreds of thousands of doors and make even more phone calls. This campaign has built the largest field operation in history, and we need to mobilize it in these remaining days to get every single voter to the polls on Election Day. Because that’s what it comes down to – counting every last VOTE.”

I sincerely hope that Labour’s new campaign team and strategy group which should both be up and running once the election defeat analysis report is implemented without further undue delay, will take note of all this even as far as the forthcoming local and Euro elections are concerned. This is not intended to reopen any old wounds but simply to make sure that Joseph Muscat will manage to stand up to and pass the reality check of his vision statement.

I have just managed to watch Obama’s 30 minute pitch to America on TV which has been described as the Obama infomercial. It had everything from a hard edged documentary approach to a touch of Hollywood, soaring strings and lush photography and all. Its main purpose has been described as an effort to transcend demographic targeting in favour of a nationwide message of unity and common purpose.

It is no mean feat to intersperse individual stories with details of his policies, and a beautiful comparison as to how schools and hospitals could have been funded with the money spent on the Iraq war. It will come to you as no surprise that it was shot by Davis Guggenheim, the director of Al Gore’s film An inconvenient truth.

Meanwhile rumours continue mounting that senior Republicans plan to meet at a rural retreat within days of the election to discuss how to rebuild a party that they expect to be badly beaten in the White House and Congressional races.

We have had our fair share of finger pointing and post mortems in Malta too but if the planned Republican meeting takes place this will be the first instance where the finger pointing will have begun before the campaign ended.

What is sure is that as we have learnt at our expense, there will be those in the Republican Party who will argue that the party lost because it strayed (in their case) from the conservative path while others will argue that the party lost the middle ground.

To-day’s election will be a classic conflict of generations. This is likely to be the case in Malta in 2013 or earlier, as well.

While I continue to be amazed by Obama’s cool and measured performance throughout the campaign one should be reminded that in spite of McCain’s weak efforts to distance himself from the Bush era which in many cases was one of a “state of denial’ John McCain’s top advisers all come from the neoconservative war establishment. So much so that as mentioned by others, “the ones who pull the strings on McCain’s opinions from Georgia to Iran are co-originators of the neocon doctrine!”

I am convinced that when Americans today go to the polls the shadow of George W. Bush will loom over this election until the final result is out.

What turned me on to Obama’s style and ways of doing politics is that apart from promoting a new politics of hope, his was a campaign against “politics as usual” – the old, long tried, tested and worn out way of doing things.

As I write I remain unable to quantify the depth that the subliminal stream of the race issue will have on the electorate when it comes to take the plunge of actually voting.

But one thing is sure. Whether race will impact or not on the election, the Republicans have definitely been fighting on racial grounds even when express references to race were not always that directly evident.

No US campaign will be a truly American campaign without its bizarre elements. This time round it was in my opinion, definitely the choice of Sarah Palin who some consider to have “energised the base” in spite of the gaffes every time she opens her mouth. But what intrigued me was that in spite of her pitch for the evangelicals, to whom she was meant to appeal, younger voters in particular, are showing rising concern about such issues as jobs, poverty and the environment about which judging by her track record the lady from Alaska does not seem to care one jot. So do not be surprised if even the so called “Christian Right” might today show some signs of change, marginal or not.

I will end with a beautiful quote by that fine lady – Joan Didion – one of my favourite authors:

‘We could forget that we ourselves induced the coma, by indulging the government in its fantasy of absolute power, wielded absolutely. So general is this fantasy by now that we approach this election with no clear idea where bottom is : what damage has been done, what alliances have been formed and broken, what concealed reefs lie ahead... Whoever we elect president is soon to find some of that out!’

God Bless America. And I do not say so with tongue in cheek.

e-mail: [email protected]

Leo Brincat is the Main Opposition Spokesperson for the Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change