Election day

Election Day - Arcadia

I try to resist writing about politics in this blog mainly because I feel I don’t have enough ‘bullets in my arsenal’ to discuss issues at length. I marvel at those who are able to discuss and dissect issues up to its most complex level. At least, before I am driven into catatonia or a coma (hehe). This doesn’t mean, though, that I lack opinions. When I do discuss politically-related issues, I rather focus on individual experiences (such as my own or people I know) that are related to or that results from these issues. 

American politics–specifically this year’s presidential elections is, of course, another matter. Unless one lives in an underground cave, it is difficult to stay out of it because the news media broadcasts to the world everything that is happening there on an almost hourly basis. Thank CNN, cable television, and the internet for this. I do not object to this because like it or not, when you think on it, American politics (and its policies) affects the rest of the world.

Yesterday I spent a good amount of time viewing updates on the elections results. This particular page in history (the election of the first black US president) unfolded in front of the eyes of the world. It’s kind of like watching Morgan Freeman in ‘Deep Impact’, minus the doomsday asteroid, of course. So how do I feel about Barrack Obama’s election victory? Is it like how I felt when Halle Berry won her Best Actress Oscar (for a not-so-spectacular performance in ‘Monster’s Ball’, but her victory was rich in historical value nonetheless)?

I’m not sure. Since the start of the campaign, I had been rooting for Hilary Clinton and I was concequently upset that she didn’t clinch the party nomination. Until now, this is my opinion, not that it matters: I will choose Obama over McCain, but I will choose Clinton over Obama anytime. Obama is obviously the better candidate than McCain, but I’m still imagining Hilary Clinton as the first woman president.

At least, with someone like Obama, maybe things will be better with PEPFAR (the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), which had been notorious for pushing abstinence as primary HIV prevention method and for frowning upon sex work. Expatriate Americans here in Cambodia were ecstatic about Obama’s big win. Of course, most of them are development workers and are obviously not Republicans.

Meanwhile, as America celebrated Obama’s victory, LGBT activists in California are reeling from the stunning passing of Proposition 8 to ban gay marriage. The amendment, which passed with 52% of the vote, overrides the court ruling by defining marriage as the union of 1 man and 1 woman. 30 states have adopted such measure, but the California vote marks the first time a state took away gay marriage after it was legalized. Massachusetts and Connecticut are now the only states to allow same-sex marriage.

The American LGBT community sees an Obama win as an assurance that equality-mindedness will be an important consideration in selecting justices in the Supreme Court, which in the end has final say on, let’s say, the rights of gays and lesbians to marry. An article on The Advocate concludes that, “…while our losses in this election are very emotional defeats, the election of Obama ensures that the big prize is still within sight. For that, we can find solace in our losses and allow ourselves to enjoy the history we have just lived.”

Something to look forward to, indeed, in these desperate times.

On another note, as I watched Obama’s eloquent speech at Chicago’s Grant Park (very good, almost drove me to tears), I couldn’t help but notice Michelle Obama’s outfit. The colors were bold (black and red for the whole family) but the design is, hmn, not-so-flattering. I’m no fashionista, but I really thought she could’ve picked something that fit her figure better. I’ve seen her before and she dresses very well without looking so aloof, unlike Cindy McCain (who always manages to look like an ice queen in her designer duds). Apparently, many other people were also watching her dress. Some were not pleased, as chronicled here and here. Other pundits were kinder in their comments here and here; highlighting the context of Michelle’s sartorial choice more than the appearance.