To vote for change!

'Who do you think is going to be the next president of the USA?', was a many asked question the last weeks. Yes, I have personal links to that nation. I even have lived there at the time of the presidential elections. I remember very clearly that voting there and here are two completely different things. First of all it is not obliged. You are free to vote or not. Me, I have to face the voting ballot more then once in four years, making it one of the less appealing things of a democracy!Second of all it so easy to make up your mind. Because there are only two candidates! I have to try to make choice out of more then five political parties and numerous wanabe politicians!

I also remember that when we found out that Bill Clinton had won not that many were that happy. It almost seemed that Bill was more popular abroad then at home. It took a while for the Americans to get used to his personal style. Hilary and Chelsea were not that photogenetic as the Kennedys and that even made it harder for them to impress their voters.

In a few days this gigantic nation will face a new tough choice. They can choose for change that might make the difference for many. It so appealing to go ahead and change that one profession that only white people have managed to obtain. Historical it will be quite a story and O will have a gigantic foodprint in many history schoolbooks. But I guess it will take more then just wanting to take on the job.

For the moment O seems to have an eassier trip down campaign lane but it is still not D-day. We know what happened to A when he was up for office. Florida will never be same for the presidential candidates. They have hundreds of lawyers ready to file complaints when needed. Many people ask me if they will vote for O because of the fact that B has done a rather bad job. Well, no! It doesn't work like that.

Once you are in you belong there! Americans seem to be able to detach the man of the job. And for them being the president is a very sacred job. They won't misjudge this person on his/her character. So once in the Oval Office and surrounded by the secret service the average American will believe in their president. He is also their boss of the army and that is quite a job to handle with care. When he pushes the red button they will have to obey!

In the turmoil of the credit crunch and crashing stock markets the new White House inhabitant will have a very hard time. Many American have dreams but only a few seem to manage to pursue that dream. To us it seems very odd that this nation does not seem to take care of the poor ones. In this country everything costs money and health and education you only can obtain if you have enough green ones! Every time when I go to the doctor's I am grateful for NHS!!!

O and MC are two different characters but they are two typical blueprints of what this nation stands for. O, a kid of white mother and black father who has had a very tough childhood but worked very hard to get there. He believed in the fact that when you work very hard and keep trying you will get there! The american dream in the flesh! MC is the very proud veteran who survived Vietnam. He is the guy who proudly defended all that values the USA stands for. He will salute the troops and he will feel what they will feel when they will be send off in the war zone!

I have American friends that I know for sure who they will vote for. I don't judge them and don't tell them to change their mind. It is so easy to tell others what to do. Here in Europe it seems that O would be a better choice. I am still very cautious to state who is going to win because it seems so surealistic to vision O in office. Yes, personal I don't like the idea of SP living in Washington DC ready to take over when MC would stop breathing. But then I am not that close and don't live in the nation who has to right to decide who they want in charge.

Once the votes are counted and we will know who will move in to the WH it will be more important to know who will advise this boy. Many times a president will rely on them. It are these people that will have to make the difference. A president is as strong as his personal team!!! Sadly enough these are most of time not people you get to vote for. They screw up many times but in the end it is the big boss who faces the public opinion.

Joe Klein, one of the political reporters of Time Magazine put it down very nicely:'O does not seem needy. He seems a grown up, in a nation that badly needs some adult supervision.' I will be quite nervous the next few days because the outcome will matter this time more then ever. If MC will make it against all odds then the nation will have a leader that will have to deal with a world desperate for change. If O wins then already there will be change. Just one look at him and it has changed. 'It's time!', the cover of the current affairs magazine 'The Economist' states. And I totally agree! IT IS NOW OR NEVER TO VOTE FOR CHANGE!