“Ah, the holidays. A time for family, friends, gluttony, and Jesus-approved consumerism. Such a lovely time of year. This winter, however, something new was in the mix: instead of a jolly ‘Merry Christmas!’, people everywhere seemed to be shouting, ‘Who are you voting for?’ It was strange, as a returning ex-pat, to see my American friends and neighbors so obsessed with new catch phrases like, ‘Did you see the Iowa caucus on CNN?’ and ‘Did you catch the New Hampshire debates? Isn’t Mitt Romney a jerk?’ This language, while somewhat familiar to me from 2004, seemed new and beautiful on the tongues of my fellow Americans.
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Since having departed from the States (in tears) shortly after Bush’s second supposed-election, something seemed to have changed during my hiatus; Americans appeared to have become…dare I say… political. People everywhere were discussing candidates’ personal lives and public voting records. In every bar in Boston you could find semi-informed citizens ranting about that fabulous new concept: change. What sort of change? Well, that hardly seemed to matter; just the word itself brought a sparkle of hope to an otherwise disillusioned eye. Change, yes: something other than the very embarrassing eight years of Bush’s reign. Anything, it appears, would be better than that.
In one of the debates, when John Edwards called Hilary Clinton an ‘agent of the status quo’, things got so heated that the audience was just waiting for her to leap over the podium and wring his Southern neck. In an interview later, she almost broke down when she declared, “I’m running because I don’t want this country to fall backwards anymore.” Well, I for one can certainly respect a candidate who sheds tears at the thought of being affiliated with Bush. The funny thing about Clinton is that people blame her for being married to a former president. ‘Do you really want 20 years of only two families? That’s like the American dynasty, not the American democracy!’ Well, it should be pointed out that she wasn’t actually in an elected position. This time we might even get to choose her.
But who to vote for? Oprah is backing Obama, and although this is big news in America, I wonder what it really says. Do we actually care who a talk show host chooses for president? Even if she is de koningin van de talk shows? And am I really the only one skeptical enough to wonder whether race has anything to do with it? Don’t get me wrong, I could easily live with Obama as president, but it would sort of kill this liberal girl to see another Old White Man sitting in the oval office.
Now this is not to say that the world hasn’t seen perfectly legitimate leaders who also happen to be male and have pale skin, I’m just suggesting that a bit of variety never hurt anyone. Give me a woman, give me a black man, give me anyone but what we’ve had for 200 years. Isn’t it time for some fresh meat? I get the feeling I may be preaching to the choir by ranting about this to a Dutch student body; but one never knows. Any neo-conservatives out there itchin’ for a fight?
Let’s face it, America needs some new blood. Even if only to repair the damage the Bush administration has done to our international relations. If you met an American, what would your immediate set of assumptions be? Let me guess: naive, gun-slinging, right-wing cheerleader for Jesus and all things military? Am I right? See why we need a new representative? It’s simply unfair that the equally irrational liberals get left out of the story. Half the country voted against Bush – doesn’t that count for something? There’s a very large group of people out there eagerly counting down the days that Bush has left in office. (Check out www.backwardsbush.com if you’re not convinced.)
I’ll be voting by absentee ballot, but you can be sure my vote will count. This isn’t an election to be left to fate. And if the gods have any sense of justice, in January 2009 we’ll all be watching a precedent being set on Inauguration day. Whether that means electing the first black president, or the first female doesn’t really matter. Next winter Americans won’t be asking, ‘Who did you vote for?’ anymore. They’ll be too busy celebrating that long-awaited victory: change.
Dorothy Parker, MSc Architecture, is from the United States. Her next column will be published in Delta 05. She can be emailed at: onbezorgd@gmail.com
“Ah, the holidays. A time for family, friends, gluttony, and Jesus-approved consumerism. Such a lovely time of year. This winter, however, something new was in the mix: instead of a jolly ‘Merry Christmas!’, people everywhere seemed to be shouting, ‘Who are you voting for?’ It was strange, as a returning ex-pat, to see my American friends and neighbors so obsessed with new catch phrases like, ‘Did you see the Iowa caucus on CNN?’ and ‘Did you catch the New Hampshire debates? Isn’t Mitt Romney a jerk?’ This language, while somewhat familiar to me from 2004, seemed new and beautiful on the tongues of my fellow Americans.
Since having departed from the States (in tears) shortly after Bush’s second supposed-election, something seemed to have changed during my hiatus; Americans appeared to have become…dare I say… political. People everywhere were discussing candidates’ personal lives and public voting records. In every bar in Boston you could find semi-informed citizens ranting about that fabulous new concept: change. What sort of change? Well, that hardly seemed to matter; just the word itself brought a sparkle of hope to an otherwise disillusioned eye. Change, yes: something other than the very embarrassing eight years of Bush’s reign. Anything, it appears, would be better than that.
In one of the debates, when John Edwards called Hilary Clinton an ‘agent of the status quo’, things got so heated that the audience was just waiting for her to leap over the podium and wring his Southern neck. In an interview later, she almost broke down when she declared, “I’m running because I don’t want this country to fall backwards anymore.” Well, I for one can certainly respect a candidate who sheds tears at the thought of being affiliated with Bush. The funny thing about Clinton is that people blame her for being married to a former president. ‘Do you really want 20 years of only two families? That’s like the American dynasty, not the American democracy!’ Well, it should be pointed out that she wasn’t actually in an elected position. This time we might even get to choose her.
But who to vote for? Oprah is backing Obama, and although this is big news in America, I wonder what it really says. Do we actually care who a talk show host chooses for president? Even if she is de koningin van de talk shows? And am I really the only one skeptical enough to wonder whether race has anything to do with it? Don’t get me wrong, I could easily live with Obama as president, but it would sort of kill this liberal girl to see another Old White Man sitting in the oval office.
Now this is not to say that the world hasn’t seen perfectly legitimate leaders who also happen to be male and have pale skin, I’m just suggesting that a bit of variety never hurt anyone. Give me a woman, give me a black man, give me anyone but what we’ve had for 200 years. Isn’t it time for some fresh meat? I get the feeling I may be preaching to the choir by ranting about this to a Dutch student body; but one never knows. Any neo-conservatives out there itchin’ for a fight?
Let’s face it, America needs some new blood. Even if only to repair the damage the Bush administration has done to our international relations. If you met an American, what would your immediate set of assumptions be? Let me guess: naive, gun-slinging, right-wing cheerleader for Jesus and all things military? Am I right? See why we need a new representative? It’s simply unfair that the equally irrational liberals get left out of the story. Half the country voted against Bush – doesn’t that count for something? There’s a very large group of people out there eagerly counting down the days that Bush has left in office. (Check out www.backwardsbush.com if you’re not convinced.)
I’ll be voting by absentee ballot, but you can be sure my vote will count. This isn’t an election to be left to fate. And if the gods have any sense of justice, in January 2009 we’ll all be watching a precedent being set on Inauguration day. Whether that means electing the first black president, or the first female doesn’t really matter. Next winter Americans won’t be asking, ‘Who did you vote for?’ anymore. They’ll be too busy celebrating that long-awaited victory: change.
Dorothy Parker, MSc Architecture, is from the United States. Her next column will be published in Delta 05. She can be emailed at: onbezorgd@gmail.com
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