International Election Mania

I really, really wish I could be in the U.S. this coming Tuesday for election night—obviously it's going to be a historic evening, as we can see from the record numbers of Americans already heading to the polls for the early voting available in 40 states. But since I'm going to be here in Stockhom, I've decided to throw an "election breakfast" for my Swedish friends so we can watch the tail end of the news coverage and toast (or console each other) with mimosas when we find out who wins.

Some of my friends in the U.S. have been surprised when I've told them how very interested Europeans are in our election. Many Swedes are following it as closely as Americans: it's all over the TV and newspapers and passionate followers in my circle of contacts include Jonas Bonnier's 16-year-old son, who pulled all-nighters watching each of the debates (they aired here at 3 am), and several of my coworkers who are morbidly fascinated by Sarah Palin.

What was really amazing, however, was experiencing first-hand how passionate people are about this election in Asia. While in Bali, we saw TV election coverage from the BBC, CNN International, Al Jazeera, and the networks in Indonesia and Hong Kong. Just walking down the beach in little fishing villages or talking to taxi drivers, Balinese people would ask where we're from, and when we told them we're American, they'd say "Obama!"

Since moving to Sweden I've gotten a deep sense of exactly how important the U.S. is to the rest of the world. Our country really does lead in economics, foreign policy (gulp—sorry, world), and pop culture. And the rest of the people around the globe don't have the opportunity to vote for our president—they just get stuck with whomever we choose. The whole world used to love America, but over the past eight years, they've begun to see us as a bully and a rogue element. We haven't been making decisions that benefit the global community, which means we've been abusing our position and power, and consequently losing them—not to mention the goodwill and respect that are always crucial to leadership. But now that everyone has seen how a U.S. market slide can cause all the other global markets to fall like dominoes, the international community desperately wants us to pull it together and get back on top again.

If Obama wins this election, the U.S. will be making a historic shift from a right-leaning government to a left-leaning one, which reminds me of the drawings of a giant pendulum that Mr. Fleming, my 10th-grade history teacher, used to make on his blackboard. Whether we were talking about the Whigs versus the Tories in the English Parliament or the Jacobins being ousted by the people's party during the French Revolution, he always wanted us to keep the larger historical context in mind: when any government swings too far to the right or left, political and economic forces always move it back in the opposite direction.

I was born during the Carter administration, so I've seen two Democratic presidents and two Republicans so far (both from the same family, which is really weird). For most of my life, the parties have cleaved to a pretty moderate path. But now that the disastrous results of the Bush administration's ultra-hawkish foreign policy and severely deregulated economic policy are fully being felt by the people, the historical pendulum just might be positioned for a swing.

Whatever happens on November 4th, I'll be in my tiny apartment filled with pancake-munching Swedes, anxiously watching as the last results roll in.