Not all people believe you—

If you can make more people believe you than those who do not believe, you can still be elected as president of the most powerful country in the world: the United States of America. That is how democracy works – the majority wins. Never mind, how small or large is the majority-This time it was 50% to 49%.
The last presidential election in the United States carries a lesson for everybody, individuals or groups. It is a lesson of faith, hope and consistent hard work. The campaign for Barack Obama’s re-election started four years ago. The day he was elected for the first time. It was not the work of a few but of thousands of committed volunteers who have maintained the connection with voters, many of whom went to a polling place for the first time in 2008. It was a quiet and steady groundwork assisted by modern technology.
At the time, during the early part of 2012, when the opposite party was almost monopolizing the media in the selection of its nominee for president. Barack Obama’s people were seldom seen or heard.
Another lesson that can be learned from this tumultuous event is that you need a very thick skin and be able to take all kinds of attacks, be they personal, p0rofessional, moral, religious or whatever. Ignored attacks soon die down.
It is sad that some of those most humiliating and bitter hits were made by some well known highly resp0ected members of the American society.
“He is finished!”
“Barack Obama is the dumbest man that ever walked in the United States of America.”
“He is leading from behind.”
“I will get rid of Obama care in my first day in office”
These are just some of the utterances during the election campaign.
Another lesson that this election pointed out is: Money can buy most anything but not everything. This is said to be the most expensive one that was ever held in the United States. Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent by both parties especially for ads. One voter during the primaries remarked “He was able to buy the primaries – Would he be able to buy the elections?”
It was reported in the papers that about 800 million dollars were spent by one party for ads in Virginia alone, during the last days before the election. Billionaires poured their dollars in support of their candidate while the opposite party supporters put their one hundred to two hundred fifty each for their own.
It is often said that if you have skeletons in your closet, they would surely be discovered, once you run for public office. All kinds of smears were tried on Barack Obama from the place of his birth to his early job as a community organizer to the ones that were not revealed about his passport and college applications. Indeed, he started like many Americans did, from lowly jobs to the highest that can be attained in the United States, but no one can fault him for something anyone can be ashamed of.
When Barack Obama was elected for the first time as president of the United States, historians and pundits remarked that it was the victory against racism. It was the culmination of the decades of struggle of people like Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King and the likes of them. In the 2012 election, a writer claimed that it was racism that got him re-elected.
Barack Obama got 39% of the white votes. He got 71% of the Latino votes, 69% of the Jewish votes, more than 90% of the Black votes. 76% of the votes of gays and lesbians. He also got the majority of the votes of Asians, women and youth. (Note, these statistics slightly changed from day to day during the time after the elections).
It was said that the most important issue in this election was economy. About 77% of those polled said the economy is bad. Majority of those questioned said Mitt Romney is in a better position to handle the economy because of his success as a businessman.
Yet, majority voted for Barack Obama to remain as president. There were so many opinions regarding this issue that were put forward. The most outstanding among them is that the re-elected president has a more charismatic personality than his opponent.
Barack Obama, indeed, is a very likeable personality. He exudes warmth and sincerity in meeting people. He is humble; he leaves the selling of himself to other people. He is a very good family man. He is very hardworking as witnessed by his gray hairs during his four years in office. He has remained cool under the barrage of attacks from all directions. And still, we know he is human when his tears flowed in thanking the volunteers for their work in re-electing him.
Barack Obama won by only 1% of votes over his opponent, yet, 1% out of approximately 140 million American voters of different colours, political, sexes, ages and economic status is definitely a win.
He was elected by a deeply divided nation, but it is a nation of different views that has the freedom to express their sentiments. In their differences, they find commonality of purpose. That is what democracy is all about. Americans, democracy is alive and well in your midst.