Just Check Out

Just to start a conversation I asked the black taxi driver taking us from
Chicago airport to the hotel who he would vote for in the November presidential
elections. After complaining that all politicians are unreliable opportunists,
he asked me what Indians think of Obama. I was not very sure. But I think
Indians need to know about the next US president first, whether it is Obama or
McCain. And the US president and his policies have an influence on the Indian IT
industry. While we go back to check out on Obama, I thought of getting an idea
of what Americans think of him and, therefore, spoke to quite a few people.

One feedback was that oil prices would surely come down. The life of an
average American revolves around oilfrom cars, which is the lifeline of an
American, to lawn mowers, which I think is their passioneverything runs on oil.
A young female taxi driver in Orlando said that if Obama comes to power, oil
prices could come down. She said that this would be one reason why many will
vote for him.

Ibrahim Ahmad

Obama has promised that he will take steps to ensure that Americans do not
loose jobs and respect, bring their economy back on track, and that
globalization works to Americas advantage. How will he work this out has not
been clearly defined, but observers agree that these are the things that will
differentiate Obama from McCain, who is most likely to push Bushs agenda
forward. I met a business professor on my flight between Chicago and Newark, who
felt that Obama would be able to turn the US economy around. If Obama really has
a viable game plan to ensure that US jobs do not go out of the country,
economies like India need to watch out.

Perhaps the most interesting thought I gathered after talking to people there
was about the fate of world peace if Obama comes to the White House. All the
people I spoke to believed that president Bush has badly mishandled USAs
international relations, not just with Iraq, and Afghanistan but also with many
countries in South America, Asia, Africa, and Europe, including Russia. One must
not forget that countries in these regions are one of the fastest growing,
economically. A departmental store manager of Indian origin in Philadelphia
believed that the US economy is hit because its relationship with many countries
is not good. She supports Obama because she believes that he will be able to
bring peace around the world.

While I spoke to quite a few people, there was one apprehension among some of
them that really startled me. Obama will be assassinated they felt. Some
believed that the right wing white American could do anything to get rid of a
colored president. One even felt that there is an apprehension in many quarters
that Obama will be too soft toward countries like Iran and Cuba, and will
therefore be eliminated. To hear something like this from Americans was very
surprising as well as an eye opener. We thought these things happened only in
poor, under-developed countries.