The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Posted: 03 Oct 2012 06:23 PM PDT OCT 4 — Can one read in the victorious crumbs of the Michelle Obama-Ann Romney cookie bake-off portents of the November 6 US presidential election? Probably not. After all in 2008 Michelle, wife of the then-presidential aspirant Barack Obama, lost to the wife of the Republican rival John McCain. Obama famously went on to win the contest, producing in its wake one of the most electrifying American elections the world has ever witnessed. Michelle's victory this year might mean nothing more than fact that the 9,000 people polled liked her Dark and White Chocolate Chip Cookie over the M&M and oatmeal number that the Mormon mother put together. Frivolous factoids aside, I am sitting here in the media room of Denver University — they call it "Spin Alley" without irony — as I write this. A guest of the US State Department and its Foreign Press Center, I have been touring with 24 other journalists, listening to various experts explain the complexities of the US political system. Here today on the University of Denver campus in the "swing state" of Colorado I am part of the media circus which has drawn over 1,000 other journalists from across this vast nation, as well as internationally, in covering the first of three presidential debates. While it would be safe to say that this year's election has little of the "magic" of the previous one, when, as a Coloradan maths professor remarked, "everything seemed possible", it is also true that the debate is a much-anticipated event; one in which over 50 million viewers are expected to tune into. The lack of magic is perhaps best captured by the fact that both campaigns are systematically dampening expectations of their candidates, arguing that neither is a good debater and therefore is coming into this contest as the underdog. This might strike most observers as a patently disingenuous and a cynical attempt to shape public opinion. Magic aside, what is certain is that Governor Mitt Romney goes into this debate under pressure to produce a game-changer in an election that, according to many polls, is trending towards the incumbent in the handful of "swing states" where the race is going to be decided. While some observers are looking to have more substance and specificity to the broad ideological positions staked by the contending sides, others are looking for what might be politely called a "smackdown". The respective hopefuls are expected to produce "zingers" — a rhetorical "curved ball", to use a richer American baseball metaphor. Speculation about "zingers" — including denials of hidden "zingers" — has occupied perhaps more attention in the media that one might think is warranted. While the highly-scripted nature of political jousting makes possible missteps unlikely or rhetorical curved balls only seemingly spontaneous, this debate might do one of two things: one, enthuse the small percentage of undecided voters to get involved in the electoral process and, two, convert "support" into actual turnout. Indeed it's been said that this will be a "turnout election", one in which the ability of parties to get their supporters to polling stations will determine the winner. One mechanism through which parties mobilise voters is through their field offices. As a measure of how Obama and Romney are doing on this score in the state of Colorado, the Democrats have more than 50 offices while that of his Republican contender lags in the teens. Coming into this debate the Obama campaign leads in the key swing state of Ohio (no Republican has won the presidency without taking this state); and he leads in key demographic groups like African Americans, Hispanics and women (a group most like to turn out to vote). But the election is not a done deal for the Obama campaign, though many factors are in his favour including an economy that while not robust, is in recovery. The Obama "magic" this year is not that of the soaring rhetoric of the Democratic primaries and election campaign of 2008. It's not about Americans seeing something better in themselves after eight exhausting years of the Bush administration. It is simply the power of incumbency. These four years of the Obama administration prove several American political truisms including one which enables one of my favourite American political metaphors: that the legislative process is like "making a sausage" — a messy affair, one which most people would rather not be involved in and perhaps one which consists of sometimes unpalatable compromises. If you're a glass half-full kind of person Obama's administration has had its successes even if he has not been able to govern from the "progressive" end of the political spectrum. While others, despite their commitment to vote for the incumbent, have their questions: why didn't Obama push more in the first 90 days of his presidency when his approval rating was at a historic high, why he didn't push more when the Democrats were in control of the legislature, and why he has not used his Executive Powers more. But whatever disappointments Democrats (a wide category — ranging from progressive to conservative) might harbour, Republicans, by moving sharply to the Right, are not necessarily providing an alternative. In this increasingly polarised atmosphere, the economist Paul Krugman noted that the Republicans are increasingly the party of older white men speaking to empty chairs; a direct reference to Clint Eastwood's bizarre performance at the Republican convention. Together with secretly taped remarks by Romney to a dinner of donors that went viral with an investigative report by Mother Jones magazine — the infamous 47 per cent speech — Romney will probably have to reach out, if only rhetorically, beyond his base in this debate. But who knows. I wait with bated breath to watch how politicians here negotiate the competing pulls of American life. * Sharaad Kuttan is a producer and presenter with BFM Radio. He is currently on a US State Department reporting tour of the US. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| Posted: 03 Oct 2012 04:49 PM PDT OCT 4 — "I need help. Pakatan needs you." I was starting to sink. Having swum across half the length of a South African dam, I realised I did not have the legs to get to the other side. My friend, a very strong swimmer, fearing I was not holding my own, raced back close till he could shout to me: Are you OK? Was I OK? Hell no, but I was not about to ruin an idyllic summer afternoon with the girls rooting for us at the other end by needing assistance. Somehow, more like a morbid fear of death in my twenties, I toiled and slaved till I did make it to write this column. Where does one learn not to ask for help? Growing up as the youngest of four children in a Tamil-speaking home, attending Malay-language schools with a majority of English-speaking friends, asking for help and guidance would have been second nature. But I was a curious case. There was this innate need to be "well" in all situations without help. I memorised the multiplication table before turning six because my 10-year-old brother could do it. Always reading grades above, I did not have teachers in primary school explain to me further how tanks changed the nature of battles and the outcome of World War One. This also included not telling anyone when the taman (residential area) bully beat me up senseless when I was 13. While I realise that this defiance and self-belief has set me forward in so many arenas, it almost killed me a few decades ago. Not asking for help is not a sign of strength, it is a weakness readying itself to topple you into an abyss. That in itself is no revelation. The revelation is that learning to ask for help is a skill, an ability that one is learns over a lifetime of observation and humility. Pakatan's days of waiting A four-storey building, which is exactly two shoplots connected, our national headquarters does not fill the street with a sense of dread, or intimidation even to the wine shop attendant next door. Sitting in it, seeking to unseat an unforgiving Goliath in Putrajaya — with the fog of political war impending and closing in — one is dwarfed by the occasion. All staff double up, at least, and the routine is anyone who can, then has to. When no one can, then someone has to fake it till they make it. The irony is many Umno divisions have more firepower, even if without the delivery. So it does amuse me with a slight sharp ache when an observing public asks Pakatan Rakyat to excel better at everything; from executing reforms and plans with minimum resources and access, to picking the best election candidates with ability, expertise, experience, no skeletons in the closet and the charm to fundraise for an election and contest using largely unpaid volunteers. In my years in the school cadet infantry we'd sing a song about fighting off bullets with a cangkul (hoe), but it really was about having a go-go attitude, not actually seeking to cook an omelette without an egg, pan or stove but by holding a wishful wet matchstick. The quartermaster's checklist Inspect the to-do list. Carving up the 222 parliamentary seats equally among the three — PKR, the DAP and PAS — without factoring other allies would give each party 74 seats. Each seat on average would require 800-plus election or counting agents in total. That's just to make sure the number of votes are correct, and everyone gets a fair election in each voting stream. Close to 60,000 people in total. That's one party. No one gets paid. Weekends are given up to get the training to perform the task right and not to miss any of the procedural demands, since more likely than not the Election Commission officials are not going to rush to help you. That is just to ensure fair elections. The number of people showing up and growing at every proceeding Bersih (the movement for free and fair elections) rally tells me that many share my fears. The election paraphernalia have to be produced, prepared, shared and promoted. There are varying challenges self-evident in this endeavour. Food has to be served at the operation rooms. There is no payment, but letting volunteers live without tea and packets of nasi lemak at midnight before they get home, check on their kids, sleep and wake up for their actual jobs which pay, is just rude. But as one activist told me before, pisang goreng doesn't grow on trees. Culminating with voting day, information will be drowned in a disinformation flood, giving the impression to people depending on which side of town they are and when, that the country is heading to the gutter or that there are activists, nannies and lorry drivers planning a communist state or that the Islamists are seeking to steal Chinese New Year. It's OK if none of it makes sense, it is actually better that is does not. In all the confusion, you should stick to the only solution you've ever known, you are then reminded before you trudge to your voting station. Social media potentially provides the avenue to the disenfranchised and outflanked opportunities to "change the game", but it relies on one requirement, active participants. Traditional campaigning versus a community campaign using the Internet is akin to the competition between a fire-truck water-hose and a bucket brigade competing to put flames out. While one side can always buy the flashiest, nosiest and "perception-index friendly" fire-engines, and it does work, the other side has to rely on the willingness of the many to pass buckets of water along queues of people. It works only if it takes root, but when it does, oh my what a sight to behold! It is a mighty roar of everything possible, capable of even redefining fire. Geometry and fits The Pakatan plan requires the participation of millions, not just their votes. If it is just your vote that matters, wouldn't we have had a change of government several general elections ago? If you believe, then you must act. To join the cast of millions in this Cecile B. DeMille-sized production. It has to be "The Greatest Show on Earth" in that brief period to result a history-defying with zero histrionics election win. So yes, I am asking for your help. Print something, share it, like it, call someone, tell someone, ask people to act and tell people why you are acting. If you want something to happen you must act, it is just not good enough to come on voting day. You must tell yourself daily that you are invested to making sure the elections will be safe. Or tell people they will be safe, or tell someone, something. Do something. Then ask others to do also. Thank them. Thank them for the things they will do next, encourage them. Tell them they are not alone. All devils, whether you know them or not, build their strength on despairing those rising to speak. That the silence of one will lead to the obeisance of the many. And cruelly, the obedience of some, crippling wills. A thank you before ending I don't want any Malaysian to be grateful to Pakatan. So many citizens have already extended their hands and hearts to the developments of the last few decades. Pakatan has not done enough compared to them, and there is always more to do. Even if some of the acts are noble, it is the job of a political party to serve. Election after election, a high percentage supports us, through thick and thin. The first-past-the-post system plays down the votes that have arrived from every nook of this federation. The strongholds have suffered for the expression of political support. For by voting someone in on principle, you are condemned with an MP with principle. A relentless federal government never fails to exhibit the price of dissent on both MP and constituents. And regular people don't get to call themselves MP, which is why you are amazing. Despite having little to offer, you have stuck with us. For that Pakatan is grateful. However, this long journey — and an end long time coming — has to see itself over the final hurdles. Pakatan will not cross the finish line without those who have stayed strong, and those inclined today to want to be strong. It is not votes per se which will win the day, but the will of the Malaysian people. The will to act. Act, and voting day will only be a formality. Help me, get me to the other side, my legs are weary. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. |
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