Election 2008

Tom is a political junkie, meaning he watches the election news broadcast daily, flipping from one channel to another. Before the primary, he was a strong supporter for Clinton. After the Democrat primary, then, it is Obama.

I am on the other side. At first, Tom’s strong words and push for his views troubles me. He actually said “I will teach you to see my ways.” I wasn’t sure if he was joking or serious about that. Hah! I just kept quiet then. During the last 3 months, eventually, I told him that the reason for people to vote is to express our own opinions and views. Otherwise, why bother to have an election, may as well live in a society of dictatorship. That is what we call “freedom to choose”. After that little expression, he doesn’t try to convince me to vote democrat anymore!!!

On election night, we both glue to the television set. I have been a permanent absentee voter for the last couple rounds. I sent in my vote to support McCain even though I know that he is not likely to win. The circumstance is not favorable to him, not necessary because he is “less” than Obama in any ways or what he had or had not done. The world is ready for a different presence, regardless if it is for better or worst.

I have couple main disagreements with Tom.

(1) The economy. He voted for Obama because he saw the economy prosperity during the Clinton administration and contributed the strong economy to democrat strategies. He wants to see this coming back. To me, it takes more than one person (the president) to decide the economy. In the US, there are the other two branches that help to establish those rules. The economy always goes through a cycle of ups and downs. It takes years for the effect of any policy to take place. It isn’t as if one policy is set today, the result is seen immediately. Most of the time, the first term of any president is to handle the policies left over from the previous term. How is this different than a CEO in a major company? It takes months or years to turn a company profitable!!! Therefore, I don’t associate the strong economy entirely to the Clinton administration.

(2) The war. I am not a supporter of any war. At the same time, I am not one to stand by and do nothing. In a Chinese saying, if someone slaps my left face, I am not one to turn my right side so that person can slap me on that side too!!!

I don’t think the US should be the one country to police the world. At the same time, the US gets criticism for doing nothing either. It is in a no-win situation with the world. The other night, Tom and I discussed this. He was raised as Quaker, so very peaceful and no confrontation whatsoever. His parents came to the US after WWII, they escaped the Nazi and made their ways to here. My parents’ families left China to Vietnam in the 40’s after Mao took China into communism. My family came to the US after the Vietnam war. Lots of people from Hong Kong migrated to somewhere else around 1997 for fear of Chinese government when the colony was returned back to China. I asked Tom, why do you think all these people move around the world for? Because they want a better life, because they are afraid of that kind of government.

Why do you think China didn’t progress during Mao? Because there isn’t any incentive for anyone to do better. My analogy to him, which he had personal experience on, is to imagine a union society for the entire country. If you do 8 hours of work and get paid the same as the next person who is only doing 2 hours of work, why would you want to do more? Why would a country move forward?

Sometimes, one has to make a decision on who he is and what he wants to stand for. The US stands on the byline during the beginning of WWII. If Japan didn’t drop the bombs in Pearl Harbor, what do you think would happen? Will the US go into the war then? Probably not immediately. What would happen if Japan and Germany split the world, and now the US is the last one, what do you think those two would do to US?

The decision was made to go in Iraq. It was made based on information available at the time. It is much easier to criticize any decision afterward. If given the same circumstance all over again, what would one president do differently than another? Everyone cried over how wrong it is. But no one thinks about putting themselves in their shoes. I find this whole situation being extremely unfair and blaming the entire Bush administration for. Instead of focusing on how wrong it is, why not focus on finding the right exit strategy. Of course, it is easier to point fingers and place blames.

Now that all is said and done, I do hope Obama will bring stabilization and prosperity to us. I do think this election marks a historical moment for all of us. We see what US still stands for. That is opportunity for everyone. It isn’t just for the rich and famous. It is for everyone. Being a minority myself, I was emotional in seeing a non-white person being elected as president of the US. You don’t have to be born in a rich and famous family to succeed. Congratulation, president elected Obama.