Kolumni New Europe: Americans voted for change 18.11.2008
In the wee hours of the morning on November 5th, 2008 Europeans learned that Barack Obama’s daughters had gotten a new pet puppy! This of course was only guaranteed if their dad won the race for President of the United States. And that he did.
After an epic two year campaign, Obama has won a huge victory in the United States. He started out as a very improbable and unknown candidate and he is now the first African American to be elected as President of the United States.
The campaign was legendary with records shattered in fundraising and voter turn out. People all over the world have been inspired by Barack Obama. Even John McCain acknowledged this fact in his eloquent concession speech given Tuesday night. He asked his supporters to come together and stand behind their new President.
According to the latest results, 62.5% of eligible voters turned out to cast their ballots. That is the highest rate of turn out since 1964! Clearly, this election was very important to Americans.
During his emotional victory speech, Obama told the story of a 106 year old woman, Ann Nixon Cooper, who voted. “She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.” Stories like hers have caused an extremely emotional response from many Americans.
Obama did not only win in the electoral count, he also won by a large margin of the popular vote. According to the latest numbers, Obama received 52% of the votes compared to McCain’s 47%.
Overall, Tuesday was a big night for the Democratic Party. Over the next years, Americans will be watching to see if the Democrats can bring about the change that they are hoping for.
Obama has said that he wants to strengthen the US relationship with Europe and increase multilateral talks on foreign affairs issues. But the issue that was likely most important to his victory was the current financial crisis. The US must lead the way to restoring economic power. This will be the top item on the agenda when Obama enters the White House. And Europeans will be anxiously waiting to see if the changes he implements will improve the worldwide financial situation.
Most analysts believe that if Europeans had voted, Obama would have won by a massive majority. Not only did Americans believe in the hope that he spoke about, but so did many Europeans. His message of change and hope could not have come at a better time.
Europeans are tired of eight years of Bush policies and unilateral decision making. World leaders rushed to congratulate Obama and many are excited to work with him on the many issues that face our world. The President of Kenya even declared Thursday as a national holiday in honour of Obama’s victory.
Europeans are happy to see that change is coming for America. Obama faces some of his nation’s biggest challenges: two wars, climate change, and a worldwide financial crisis. During his acceptance speech Obama addressed all those listening who were not Americans, “our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.”
Mrs. Anneli Jäätteenmäki
Member of the European Parliament
Member of Delegation for Relations with the United States
