Rooting for Obama: Reservations a-plenty

My heart is beating hard even as I type this. With only one day to go to the US polls, I can’t help but fantasize an Obama presidency.

Fantasize, yes. You never know with politics. You might be leading in opinion polls but when the election results are out, you find yourself under the feet of your rival. That’s politics for you.

I know Obama is leading in opinion polls and everyone is exhilarated and some people have started celebrating ‘an Obama win’. But I know better than to get overly excited especially in matters political.

The proverb “Don’t count your chicks before they are hatched” couldn’t be more apt. The eggs in the basket may be big, rich in colour and grace fully oval but this does not necessarily mean that the chicks hatched will do justice to their shells.

The eggs might go bad and produce the most awful of smell. So in politics, if the analogy of the eggs and chicks is anything to go by, it is very important to be ready for anything.

And, more so, as a Kenyan, I have learnt it the hard way not to depend on the opinion polls to gauge who will ultimately win the polls. Of course Kenyans the world over remember what happened eleven short months ago on our beloved soil.

Even as I support Obama (and pray my most fervent prayers for his sail to the White House), at the back of my mind I know he may lose. Do you guys remember what happened to Al Gore?

This guy was running for the presidency on a Democratic ticket in the year 2000 against George Bush on a Republican ticket. Al Gore was also leading in the opinion polls but George Bush won the ultimate prize.

Though he (Obama) may lose, his opinion-poll-standing notwithstanding, I know he has the potential to make the president that America needs at this time when it is teetering on the brink of recession.

Another thing, Obama – my guy – is a young man. Just the kind of president we need in countries around the world. Africa should learn from this.

Young people should be given the chance to take the mantle in their countries and run with it to the finish line. Young people are you there. Go for the challenge.

My eyes, and those of the whole wide world, are closely trained on the United States of America as they go to the polls tomorrow.

Tonight Kisumu is a-fire, as chants of “Obama, Obama” rent the air. Almost each and everything in Kisumu has been named “obama-this” or “Obama-that”.

Sorry for asking this, Kumekuchans whom do you root for between Mc Cain and Obama?

Elsewhere:

Can You Be Trusted?
The Decline of US Superpower Status?
Overview of Global Financial Crisis - 1
Overview of Global Financial Crisis - 2
Overview of Global Financial Crisis - 3
Does Barack Obama’s Skin Colour Really Matter?