It’s hard not to follow the drama of the American political debates. I don’t follow it religiously but take a passive interest in the hope that this time they get it right and don’t vote for someone who thinks they can invade countries without the agreement of the UN.
My early hopes were that Hilary Clinton would clinch the election. As someone who is very pro women in business and women leaders I have been particularly impressed with Mrs Clintons approach but a few weeks ago I started to watch Obama a bit closer and realized he has something that Mrs Clinton does not seem to have in abundance – he strikes me as a good listener.
I have been studying Positive Psychology and Cognitive Psychology and learnt that it is highly likely that Obama has also recently (in the last 5 years) had Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which may explain his approach. He seems to me that he is someone that is very comfortable with who he is, not at all the person he described in his autobiography, published before the CBT. My main reservation being his foreign policy which is significantly lacking.
Just as I was warming to him, he won the first round and it became clear that what he may have learnt in CBT he forgot with the euphoria of his win – come on Senator do you really think you can “change the world”?
Imagine a European candidate making a similar statement, the senator indulged in self-dramatization suitable to French emperors and madmen. In his victory speech
, Obama claimed that his winning of the Iowa caucuses marked a “defining moment in history” and “‘first we will change America then we will change the world”. (Obama’s fellow citizens in the media seem to be similarly light-headed: Chris Mathews exalted that an Obama win would be the “biggest American political story in modern times” and the “biggest story of modern Third World history” – only in America can they think that such an event would be the biggest story of modern history.
I hope the eventual winner is more graceful and humble – an Angela Merkel perhaps?
I’ve lived in the US for the past 25 years, and believe me, you can get used to that, in fact, you can become quite numb. Yes, America is the center of the Universe, if you say so, yes, this is the greatest democracy in the history of the Universe, we just learned that at school.
The contrast between reality and its perception by an average American is staggering, fueled in no small part by constant media brainwashing, quite similar, in fact, to what we endured in Poland in the seventies, except here it is self imposed. And as far as the political process goes, it’s really not politics at all, it’s a pageant. Seasoned, experienced politicians like Dodd or Biden are discarded, populists supported by an army of Hollywood entertainers move on….
I like your description of the American process as a pageant – very appropriate
Btw guys, did you have a look at candidates websites? They don’t have pledges not programme!
I read what republicans write in “issues” department and shook my head with disbelief… Are they actually regarded as lawful politicians? I mean they are worse than League of Polish Families…. To say all you political decisions are driven by faith? Woooow. And no word about the poverty in America, where its more striking than even in Poland!?
Had this been in Poland, we would have gotten excluded from the EU for choosing such deluded lunatics.
“I hope the eventual winner is more graceful and humble…”
You’re ‘avin a larff, aren’t you! Is there any place on earth more distant from grace and humility than American politics? Any politics for that matter?