By Heppilena Ferguson in St Louis, Missouri
With just a day before the people of the United States cast their ballots in one of the most anticipated elections in recent times with a huge global following, one US law professor says that Senator Barack Obama “looks comfortable to prevail”.
He shared his perceptions with a group of 26 journalists from around the world who have been selected to be part of the Midwest election reporting tour.
Presenting an overview of the 2008 elections at Washington University at St. Louis, Missouri on Wednesday, Professor Gregory Magarian said he felt that it was not race , but his gifted political persona that has made Obama reach the place he is today in US political life
“It is not his race, it’s the fact that he is just a gifted politician,” he said when asked if he felt that Obama’s race was partly the reason for his ascension.
The campaign has generated more interest that it has in many parts of the world in years past, since the Democratic Party formally picked the Honolulu , Hawaii-born senator as its presidential candidate by acclamation after a gruelling campaign against the heavily favoured Senator Hillary Clinton .
As the journalists met for their familiarisation sessions, none was ashamed to admit that Obama has made the US election more interesting to them than it has in their lifetime. The fact that he is an African American making enormous strides, the journalists all agreed that were their countries to decide who would be the next United States president, Obama would be a landslide victor.
Drilled mostly on his perceptions about the debates so far, Professor Magarian told reporters during his brief but interactive session that he felt that Obama’s race had nothing to do with his successes noting that he did not think that America had come that far.
He said that though he admired former US President Bill Clinton, who he also labels “a gifted politician”, he believes that Obama has gone past Clinton in terms of meeting expectations.
“I have never seen a democratic nominee run a campaign with such competence. Clinton ran well but even he did not approach the level that Obama has with such competence. What Obama has done is nothing short of remarkable”, he said.
About whether he felt that Obama had made any mistakes in his campaign so far, he said he could not think of any.
He admitted that both Obama and Republican nominee John McCain entered the race with strong profiles but like many commentators he felt that McCain’s selection of his running mate Sarah Palin was not a judicious one.
He noted that several polls have indicated that the vice presidential candidates did not influence the outcome of elections, but said that issues like McCain’s age for instance would cause persons to pay a closer look at who he chose.
According to him McCain has always come over as a person with solid judgement but he may have fallen down in failing to check out her background, her stewardship of Alaska and her political and international affairs exposure. All of these he said were areas which people would depend on McCain to have researched.
“The fact that he selected her was an impulsive rather than careful process”, the professor asserted.
He said what seemed to be McCain’s greatest asset now seems to, arguably, be his liability.
He said he believed too that the McCain campaign has suffered from a lack of a coherent message.
Magarian felt too that outgoing president George W. Bush and his level of unpopularity has made it exceedingly difficult for any Republican candidate to enjoy easy passage. However he said he felt the party saw McCain as its best bet and a person who might rekindle some hope in the party.
The journalists have so far been lectured about the elections procedures, the private sector’s involvement in the campaign process and pollsters’ predictions and varying perceptions on the process. The journalists would be out on elections day as part of the programme which will extend even after elections.
The tour has been organised by the Foreign Press Centre of the US Department of State, under the auspices of the United States embassies in the participating countries which include Guyana, Sierra Leone, Spain, Mexico, Taiwan, Moldova and The Ivory Coast.
The journalists on the tour, Heppilena Ferguson is standing fourth from left.
