Well, whether you voted for him or not, history was made yesterday as Barack Obama was elected President of the United States by 52% of voters, a healthy electoral margin, and victories in Virginia, Indiana, Ohio, and probably even North Carolina. How was your election night?
A brief note on the Indian reaction: though some Indian papers are a little nervous about Obama’s anti-outsourcing rhetoric, for the most part India appears to be as enthusiastic as the rest of the world about the prospect of a President Obama. Manmohan Singh, for instance, described the victory as “extraordinary”. Also see this list of pros and cons in the Economic Times, and this story, which has executives from Wipro and TCS expressing satisfaction with Obama’s grasp of the realities of the globalization era.
Meanwhile, Ashwin Madia lost in Minnesota’s 3rd District to Erik Paulson. The numbers were something like 48% to 40%, with a curiously large 8% plus voting for “other” candidates.
It’s somewhat disappointing, but it is worth noting that Madia is just 30 years old, and he was running in a district long held by Republicans:
With a lack of real political experience, Madia, a former lawyer and Iraq war veteran ran on a campaign of ideals. Over and over again he told voters that he didn’t need experience in St. Paul, that he had experience in Baghdad. He often started his speeches with the tale of his parents’ immigration from India. They came here nearly 40 years ago with just $19, and today their son is running for U.S. Congress. The American Dream, Madia would often say, is still very much alive in this county.
His message did not change Tuesday night as he conceded. “Even though we lost this election tonight, we didn’t lose the debate,” said Madia, 30, as he addressed disappointed supporters in Osso. “Our message was right on. I may not have been the right messenger, but our message was right, this idea that our country can do better than what we have been doing.†(link)
We may have more to say about this once there is more data about why voters did what they did.
Would like HMF to be a man and admit he’s been wrong all along with his endless rants and tirades on this board. Manju might be able to find the actual comments but HMF consistently denied that this victory was ever a possibility…due of course to the extreme racism of all white people in this country.
Minnesota is one of the few states with a third party (Independence) that actually garners votes.
Yup…it was quite interesting to see the breakup of results into red and blue and how things at the national level mask some county level divisions of red and blue (click to zoom into every county). Not to spoil the victory mood but here is an interesting social commentary on the divisions that this election has thrown up.
For my limited understanding, I don’t think this may be a referendum on racial politics. These are peculiar times, see the exit polls, McCain got a majority of white men and women’s vote. More details here.
amitabh,
the commenter you referenced ain’t in the building no’ mo’ (AFAIK)
stop flogging the phantom horse. he had no allies and precious few ideological comrades.
i’m a proud desi and all that stuff but i’m really really bored about india going on about outsourcing. they can’t build their whole future on these call centre type places. it is extremely tacky and petty to be negative about obama’s historic win just because of the outsourcing issue.
I agree with umber desi. Something extraordinary has indeed happened, this was not in the ‘realm of the expected’ even just a few months ago. Still, let’s not see this as the arrival of a ‘postracial society’ or anything quite so dramatic.
Obama won partly because of the times (i.e., Iraq, Bush, McCain, the Economy, and in the last few weeks, the importance was in the reverse order); and mostly because he ran an excellent campaign.
He did not win because ‘Americans now look beyond race’ or because ‘race is no longer an issue’. He won despite the fact that he was perceived as ‘African American’, and so universal was the perception that he indeed had to claim it himself. This hardly speaks to a society that has ‘moved past race’. Race is relevant, will continue to be relevant, though admittedly not in the same way as in the past.
Obama did win Virginia, but only just; and he did win Pennsylvania and Florida and Ohio, having run an excellent campaign in each. But by no means was this a foregone conclusion. He won New Mexico and Colorado, though largely on the ‘Hispanic vote’, another fact to underline that race is still relevant, but in new ways. He was particularly weak in the rest of the Mountain West and all of the rest of the South – the most Republican support anywhere was in Wyoming, Utah and Idaho.
Thus in many ways, his victory can be understood in normal American electoral cycle terms – he won New England, the Industrial Heartland, the Mid-Atlantic, and the West Coast; and lost in the South and the Mountain West. This is just the way a competent Democratic candidate would be expected to do, given the times.
Had race truly ceased to be an issue, I would expect much stronger showing in the Deep South and Mountain West.
6 · hello said
True. Even though that industry earns India a lot of dollars and forms a sizeable chunk of skilled worker pool that prob. come to US it would be better that India concentrates on other avenues of growth and development equally and the rest of the world also looks at other ( (positive and negative) issues in India.
Hopefully he’ll give it another shot in the land of strong women, good-looking men and children who are above average(Garrison Keillor is a Dem) there is hope.
chachaji, is that the choral from Beethoven’s Ninth I hear in the background?
I was wondering why SM took so long to put a post up on Obama’s win. Madia’s defeat, in my view, is nothing compared to the monumental win by Obama, to advance race relations and status of minorities in this country. So, with all my heart, I am elated today and I don’t hold a bit of disappointment.
I am more disappointed by the Yes on Prop 8. This shouldn’t have happened in California.
Here in the UK, I can tell you that people are electrified by Obama’s victory, and my friend in Paris has been exchanging breathless e-mails with me too, saying it’s pretty much the same in France. That a non-white son of an immigrant can become President is simply imcredible, and much introspection is taking place in the UK asking, could it ever happen here? Even if candidates arose (we have a paucity of black or south asian national politicians of any real stature), the feeling is that maybe in a generation or two, but not with such briliance as Obama has achieved in 2008. America is inspirational again, a shining beacon on the hill OK, tommorow the real world intrudes again. But until then America has achieved something great. You are a wonderful nation!
My Obama vote may not have mattered much in Calif,I made sheera in anticipation of the victory and it was yummy. Only was disappointed about Prop 8 really. Nice that finally the US elects a person of color considering most of the democracies around the world have broken barriers for highest offices and put racial/religious minorities and women in charge, even the Islamic countries. About time the US did too. Obama ran an excellent campaign but also had amazing luck. Bush defeated McCain twice, once during the primaries and now again in this Gen election.
hello, See, outsourcing is not the biggest industry in India, but it does employ a lot of people, and an Indian govt is right to be concerned about it, just as american politicians from Obama downwards use rhetoric on exactly similar issues. It is also the most public and easily recognized targets of protectionist forces, and increased economic protectionism on the part of the US is a concern for any govt outside, including India. There has been a lot of protectionist rhetoric on the part of the democrats (see President Obama’s paid advertisement pre-election), and the current economic climate is very favorable for protectionist economic policy. Finally, why should the Indian govt care about the historic nature of Mr. Obama’s win? Their responsibility is to Indian citizens, and Mr Obama is not a representative of that group. They are very sensibly expressing their policy priorities in their relations with the United States. This is as it should be, after all do americans care (well maybe some do) when similar historic events occur in India?
City Pages had a mistake–the city should be Osseo, not Osso.
The 12-member advisory board to Obama’s transition team will include Sonal Shah.
Congrats!
Now Farid Zakaria for Secretary of State?
As always, Umair Haque has some interesting analysis on why Obama won, from a strategy/organization viewpoint.
4 · umber desi said
Obama got more of the white vote than Clinton in terms of % of white voters, and way more than Kerry got.
10 · najeeb said
Madia will be up again, but what about the American guy: Bobby Jindal – is SM going to do any coverage on him. Or is it too soon to ask? I am glad to see the coverage on Madia though. I was getting lost on the cnn/foxnews website trying to find his election after 1am (sleepy).
Obama is more Indian than Bobby Jindal.
I was at Grant Park last night and just for a moment you felt like you were living in a completly harmonious world and it was special, but I know it’s back to reality now.
From the Los Angeles Times: Obama did not win a majority of white voters; no Democrat has since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. But he ran equal to the last three Democratic candidates for president among white voters, and even slightly better than the party’s 2004 nominee, according to an Edison/Mitofsky exit poll conducted for a consortium of TV networks and the Associated Press.
Race proved to be no discernible handicap, even among the small-town, working-class whites who were considered most resistant to the black political newcomer from Chicago.
Thanks for completely missing the point, I know all the facts you quote. My point was that the victory may not be an end of racial politics and that is all.
Not to belabor the point, please see this link from Abhi’s comment on another post and how the outcome would have been different had the election been held in 2006. I think it is shortsighted to not recognize the combination of events that result to this outcome.
I felt jealous for the first time, for not being a citizen of USA and be able to vote for Obama. Yay to Americans for !!
(SM Intern: Sorry, couldn’t resist this…please delete this if you think it is partisan)
Time for a replay of Barack O’Bollywood!
4 · umber desi said
In presidential contests, Republicans always tend to carry a majority of the white vote. Obama slightly overperformed when compared to other Democrats like Gore and Kerry in regard to the white vote. There is some conclusion to be made with respect to this data, but I’m not sure yours is the right one.
Obama’s Democratic Convention acceptance speech: ENOUGH! IT IS TIME FOR CHANGE!
Obama’s victory speech last night: CHANGE HAS COME!
Congratulations to America for once again recognizing and electing the right leader at a critical moment in its history. I for one am confident that Obama, like Lincoln and FDR before him, will not disappoint us.
Of course you are right. Just look at the stark contrast between the nearly all-white crowds at the McCain-Palin rallies to the multi-racial (and much larger) crowds at Obama’s rallies. A very healthy majority of non-white americans (blacks, hispanics, asians, others) voted for Obama, while the majority of white-americans voted against him.
Were there any desi winners from among all the ones who ran this time including local city level races?
Exactly right. India cannot hope to become a great power by depending so heavily on outsourcing by western corporations, and remittances from indians working in foreign countries.
delurker,
again, I know what you are talking about. My comment up thread was in response to the notion that the victory symbolizes end of of racial politics. In the interest of the discussion, I will make this my last comment.
Sure, the context matters. But ould Gandhi and MLK have been the leaders that they were if not for the prevailing conditions of their times? It also is a fact that Al Gore lost at the end of a triumphant presidency by Clinton, so while the current conditions provide a backdrop for change, Obama has scored this victory against considerable odds.
http://telegraphindia.com/1081106/jsp/nation/story_10070413.jsp
By far, the only Republican to get into a state legislature from the Indian American community yesterday was Nikki Randhawa Haley, who was re-elected for a third term to the South Carolina House of Representatives.
Haley’s election to the South Carolina House in 2004 was historic not only because she is a woman, but also because South Carolina has a long history of racial prejudice.
Her political ascent in the state has been colourful because when Haley first ran for the House four years ago, she was elected unanimously. However, she won her candidacy after successfully taking on Larry Koon, who held the House seat for her party for 30 years, in the Republican primary.
During the primary, Haley faced a nasty campaign because Koon derided her Sikh faith and ethnicity and referred to her only by her maiden name, Randhawa, to emphasise that she was “differentâ€.
So, 300 years of independence to get a half-black (by parentage, full white by upbringing) into white house.
Give it another 300 for a full black kid to make it into the white house. Maybe another 300 and a woman might actually lead this country.
Dunno what everyone is so happy about. Esp the way some Indian newspapers are having a ball. Heck, they don’t care thins much about Indian elections..
rec1man:
I dont know where you live but in the Northeast, the USA is barely a western country these days. Most faces I see on my way to work are brown, yellow, black and a sprinkling of white, and no, I don’t live in a ghetto. Going forward nonwhites are going to rapidly become the norm at top levels of the US govt. George W Bush may well be one of the last whites who gets elected as president. This country has a non-western future – the Europeans may not be so happy to find that out after their Obamania subsides.
Oruvan – if I am wrong I sincerely apologize, but I believe you have not spent much time in Northam to understand the dynamics at play. There are some potent reasons why Obama’s first day as president will be the single biggest event of his presidency; but one has to live here or be intimately connected to society to know why there were people of all stripes who were so emotional last night. That’s the only reason why I can see you be so flippant.
These are opinions. No one has a handle on the truth – but consider the above why the above means so much to many. I do concede though that O inherits very troubled conditions from his predecessor. But as I said, his one day in office is going to be the best thing of his tenure.
Would look forward to see him go against Jindal and/or Rice though in 2012. -ducks for cover-
23 · Amitabh said
Yes, Obama’s victory is truly a milestone, but I wouldn’t be so quick to jump to that conclusion. Just like in 1992, but to an even more intensive degree thanks to Paulson’s flub of Lehman, this election was all about “it’s the economy, stupid!” (see point 5.)
But this takes away nothing at all from Obama. He ran a brilliant campaign, a distinction only emphasised by McCain’s “fundamentals are strong” flub, and campaign suspension stunt. Obama’s clearly smart and serious, but time after time, his campaign decisions made it very clear that also he has an excellent understanding of what he is trying to sell – himself (something that is clear from his first book itself), and the audience he was selling to. And wow, can he give a speech or CAN HE GIVE A SPEECH? As an unreconstructed cynic, I am incapable of real emotions or tears (or maybe I just have Sjogrens’ syndrome), but that crescendo of a conclusion with the recurring “yes we can” placing his election in the context of defining moments in history certainly gave me an erection of the heart.
36 · oruvan said
Hey, it took roughly 2900 years since the Roman civilization for man to accomplish powered flight for the first time, but only 60 years after that for the first manned flight into space. Change isn’t linear. LBJ is a truly unforgotten hero in recent days.
38 · khoofia said
It’s not an accident.
LBJ is a truly unforgotten hero in recent days.
I meant forgotten.
but I wouldn’t be so quick to jump to that conclusion.
Also, in case it isn’t entirely obvious, Yglesias’ comment about “principled stand against higher taxes” is sarcastic. Apparently some of his commenters don’t seem to have picked up on that.
Also, let’s not forget the truly historic aspect of what was undeniably AN historic night. HOLOGRAMS! ON LIVE TV! Just 30 years after George Lucas did it, and with approximately the same quality!
I voted for Obama in both the Dem primary & the general election. I look around at the tatted/Left leaning Obamaniacs and wonder how long their support is going to last. I am pretty sure he’s going to make people like me who are center/center right happy (the protectionist talk was expedient to getting working class vote). I think that the left wing of the Dems are maybe not all that different from the Right who look at any Black politician and see a socialist. The only difference is that the Left sees it as a positive. I think four years now, if Obama is as successful as I think he’s going to be, he’s going to shed much of that segment and pick up McCain voters who see the light and reject the notion that he is the male version of Angela Davis
What’s needed? character, vision and competence. EQ and IQ. emotional stability, rhetorical ability, intellectual curiosity. via. How about luck? I would also add an ability to appoint people who are smarter than him to key positions and trusting their judgement. God I hope the govt isnt run on some woolly ideology.
What comes next? in no particular order of priority a. medicare b. wars 1, 2 c. gitmo d. pakistan e. nafta f. economy g. manufacturing
I bring up (d) above because it figured prominently on the campaign. how does one handle an ally who nurtures a foe but wants respect for its territorial sovereignity? a thorny mix.
the onion isnt far off. [hat tip to rahul for the link-y].
45 · louiecypher said
While we are in the prediction game: I bet that he will be to the left of Clinton on investments in welfare and social protection. Sure, the protectionist talk was expedient, but the financial crisis will mean that the welfare system/unemployment benefits safety net will have to be made more expansive at least in the short term, since people are just unable to find jobs, and there might be much more govt infrastructure spend targeted towards job creation. (this is not socialist, just good old fashioned keynesian stuff.) Heck, he may even hire Joe the plumber to unplug the white house toilets.
Obama will be a fair bit like Clinton, otherwise, I think. Except far more disciplined, knowledgeable about Capitol workings as an ex-senator, and he will have a supportive house and (to a large extent) senate – things Clinton did not have in his favor and hence more effective. Republican fears/hopes that he is Carter without the cardigan are likely misplaced.
Michelle Obama’s dress last night was a signal of America’s impending communist takeover. Discuss.
Here in the UK, I can tell you that people are electrified by Obama’s victory, and my friend in Paris has been exchanging breathless e-mails with me too, saying it’s pretty much the same in France. That a non-white son of an immigrant can become President is simply imcredible, and much introspection is taking place in the UK asking, could it ever happen here? Even if candidates arose (we have a paucity of black or south asian national politicians of any real stature), the feeling is that maybe in a generation or two, but not with such briliance as Obama has achieved in 2008.
Maybe one day a jew will become the leader of Saudi Arabia, a south indian christian will become the Prime Minster of the Pakistan, a Flipino will become the president of Japan. Or a low caste non-ethnic punjabi dalit would become the Chief Minster of Punjab, heck most dalits sikh’s in Punjab would be happy to be allowed in the same gurdwara as high caste sikhs.
All I know that Barack Obama had much better chance of becoming the leader of the United States. Then he would have a chance to become the leader of Iran, Pakistan, India or China.