Who do you think will be the next US President?

Now the that the Democratic Primaries are finally over paving the way for Barack Obama to lead his party into Novembers election who do you think stands a better chance to win, Obama or McCain? Up to now the focus has been squarely on the Obama-Clinton battle pretty much leaving John McCain to his own devices to quietly do his campaigning in the background unfettered by the Democrats because they were too busy in-fighting.

Now that Obama has his parties nomination and McCain his, I think it's a pretty hard race to call. Granted that only now these two opponents are going to get around to slugging each other on the campaign trail. Only the next few months will give any real indication as to what the future may hold for American politics but I want to look at these two diametrically opposed presidential hopefuls and see if we can't try and predict who might win based on what has already transpired and who they are.

Barack Obama would appear to be the popular choice but only because the he has had so much world media attention. He has an image that is dynamic and a feeling that he may bring something new to the game but lets not forget that his Democratic victory was hardly a decisive one. In a country famous for much of its population being apathetic to going to the polls, no other presidential hopeful has inspired it's citizens to register to vote. In particular the youth segment. The fight for his parties nomination went the full 12 rounds with Hillary conceding only at the very end. For the most part Democrats were pretty much split down the middle between the two. Although the fight went right to the last round it was apparent a long time before the final primaries that Obama would be their man but Clinton refused to give in and just dug in deeper right to the end. I have admire that level resilience and fortitude but has Hillary's reluctance to accept what was clear to almost everybody else hurt Barack's chances in the main bout?

John McCain on the other hand has one major thing that works against him (which democrats are quick to pick on), his age. The other possible negative is that he is a supporter of the ongoing war in Iraq, but that didn't stop Bush being re-elected to a second term did it? However, John has a few aspects that it think do work to his advantage. First he is a familiar face, not necessarily his face, but what his face represents. Whether he wants to or not McCain represents the norm of white males dominating the oval office. For all of America's cultural diversity it is still largely a white America dominated society. Even minority groups in the US may be more comfortable with the norm of American politics than the possibility of have a president from a minority background that's not from their minority. John McCain's other main asset I feel he has is that America loves their heroes and celebrities. McCain is a well respected and admired war veteran and viewed by many as a hero amongst his peers. Americans love their heroes and anybody they can look up to and admire as someone with integrity and upholding the age old tenets of the so-called American Way, even if the basis of that individuals hero status stems from something that is not real, I.e Actors.

I'm not an American nor have I ever lived in the US. Many Americans may argue that I'm not  qualified to give an opinion on this subject but as long as the US wants to continue it's global economic and political dominance it will be subject to the criticisms and opinions of the rest of the world and not just from governments but also from individuals. Most Americans I talk to pretty much seem to be Obama supporters but then they fall into the very small percentage of Americans that actually venture abroad either to live or travel regularly for work or business and understand more about other people and cultures than the average Yank. Is it safe to say that other than the more cosmopolitan American and youth segment the rest of the US that understands little else other than America would feel more comfortable with the familiarity that John McCain would bring as opposed to the the radical change of Barrack Obama? Although Obama may be the flavour of the month with his dynamism and perceived popularity is it possible that the McCain could swoop in on The Wings of Familiarity and win the oval office? Even though Al Gore was clearly the most popular candidate he still lost did he not?

As a non-American I thinks it's pretty safe for me say that most of the rest of the world would definitely be hoping that Barack Obama is the next US President. If not for his policies or his charisma at the very least his ethnicity puts a lot of the rest of the world at ease. Not so much because he's not white but more because the rest of the world is scared to death of another George Bush! Of course there's nothing to say that Barack Obama will be any better or worse only time will tell, but the rest of the world feels that they need a change in American politics just as much as the Bush administration has felt it needed to make changes in the politics of other countries. But whether or not the rest of the world gets the change it wants is up to whether or not the American people feel they need that change too. As I mentioned before, the average American may think my opinion isn't worth shit as I'm not a Yank but don't forget America that as long as you are enjoying the dominance that your country currently holds amongst the rest of the world how you vote affects everybody else and our reactions to US foreign policy will affect you too. Is it not time to stop the fighting and pissing contests between the US and the rest of the world? Have we not had enough? Have not enough good young Americans and other citizens of the world died for flawed US foreign policy. I don't know who is the better man for the job but I urge all voting Americans to study and know your candidates well. Choose the man whose policies make you feel at least a modicum of security and if conflict could be a possibility choose the man that would take that step for just reasons (not just oil or other commodities). The world is in deep enough shit as it is with the current food crisis and fuel prices exacerbating it and not to mention all the conflict that is already going on. If Americans want to continue using the moniker “The Greatest Nation on Earth”, choose wisely and show the rest of the world that you deserve that title.