Almost exactly 4 years ago I moved from the US to Argentina. I had planned my trip for just after the presidential election in part so that I could vote. I had been expecting and hoping for a victory by John Kerry. I supported Kerry more out of my hate for the Bush administration than for caring much about John Kerry’s presidency. I said goodbye to several friends at an election celebration at a neighborhood bar that ended with a mood of shock and hopelessness.

A few days later I arrived in Buenos Aires with my tail between my legs. It is not easy to adapt to a foreign culture and an unfamiliar language, but also with a public that has so much contempt for the country I come from. The first term of GW Bush was arguably against the will of the public, but the re-election (though also suspicious) has been seen as the public’s endorsement of the war and all the other fucked up shit he has done. Some friends in the US suggested that I tell everyone here I was Canadian. I couldn’t do that, but when asked where I was from I would say “New York,” not the United States specifically. And that would quickly be followed with something like “sorry, but I hate Bush more than you do.”

Today Barack Obama is the president elect by a very decisive majority. I have voted in every US presidential election since 1980 when I was 18, and am accustomed to being on the short end of the stick, always voting for the democratic candidate. But more significantly, I have never been too excited about the choices on the democratic ticket either. The democratic candidates have always worked so hard to sidestep the “liberal” label, that they never really spoke to the base, the values of being the champion of all the people. Clinton succeeded by adopting part of the Republican platform as his own. After the success of Ronald Reagan in appealing the the right wing, I have wondered why no Democratic candidate had the guts to pull off the same thing with something more progressive.

I truly believe that Obama has succeeded at answering this. We now have someone who tends to speak more directly from his conscience, and trusts the intelligence of the American public to digest more than a few buzz words. In part, he is the beneficiary of disenfranchisement with the current economic disaster, but also his candidacy has mobilized so many voters who always took a pass in previous elections. (His race has probably hurt his candidacy more than it has helped.) The fact that he won so soundly may say as much as people’s dissatisfaction with Bush and the current situation, but the extremely high turnout has a lot to say about the effect of Obama’s candidacy.

Words are just words, but his words reveal a deep intelligence and a firm contact with reality. He has convinced me, not that he is perfect, but in his profound sincerity. Up till now, he has talked a good game, and we have yet to see how he will carry that through. Expectations for what he can do are absurdly high at the moment, and for that we may ultimately all be disappointed. But for now there is hope of taking a few steps of progress; and already with the election of someone so inclusive the Obama candidacy has accomplished something significant before taking a single official act as president.

The View from Buenos Aires Today

Here is a rough translation of what the Argentine newspaper front page shown to the left says: “A different country. The US people voted for a change after 8 years of clandestine militarism and ultra conservative politics that has brought the Iraq mess and the worst [economic] crisis since 1930. After all this, Barack Obama, the first afro-american to gain the presidency of the USA, was chosen as the leader of this change.”

Most Argentines continue to harbor great contempt for the US, with so many years of being subjected to its influence both for better and worse, but most notably for enabling the murderous dictatorship here from 1976 till 1983, and economic subjugation in other times. (On the positive side, they adore our Ramones.) But as this headline shows, that just by electing a president with a more diverse view, there is some hope here too for the Obama presidency.

My Spanish has improved a lot in four years, but my accent still gives me away. I can now be a bit more comfortable with that.