“Change has come to America!”
From “Obama Girl” to Sarah Palin’s “I-Can-See-Russia-From-Alaska” comment to President-elect Obama’s apparent link to a terrorist, this year’s US Presidential Elections has certainly been an exhilarating and interesting race.
Obama vs McCain; what initially seemed like a largely racial affair soon gave way to the larger issue of choosing someone who could undo the ‘damage’ caused by the Bush adminstration.
“The American people have spoken and they have spoken clearly,” McCain told his crowd of supporters at his conceding speech. In the end it was a landslide victory with Obama receiving 364 electoral college votes and McCain winning only 162 (though Ronald Reagan still holds the record with the 525 votes he received in 1984).
While President-elect Obama will officially take office only on Jan 20, 2009, he has met President Bush at the White House to discuss transitional issues between the 2 adminstrations, problems in the US economy and global financial market, and the war in Iraq.
Obama has also begun choosing members to join his adminstration, which currently includes Rahm Emanuel who had previously served in the Clinton adminstration.
All eyes will be on Obama and his team over the next 4 years and global expectations will run high as the world eagerly awaits to see if change has indeed come to America.
But do youths in Singapore actually care about politics in the US?
After all, this generation is known for its apathy towards local politics let alone that of a foreign country.
Do they know enough about the situation to make acute decisions on their own? Or do they only subscribe to a narrow perspective delivered to them by a single website or newspaper? Did they pledge their support for Obama out of popular vote?
The Urbanwire went out to the streets and sought the opinion of some youths on the outcome of the elections and more.
Do you share the same thoughts as those featured in the video? Whatever your opinions, we would like to hear from you, so do drop us a comment below.
Next week, it’s local music vs Western music. Will we ever pledge the same kind of support to our homegrown bands the way we buy into foreign acts? Do youths feel that there is a lack of quality in the music played by local bands? Want to know? Check back next Friday to find out!
What Say You? is a 3-part series produced by Elliyani Mohamad and Hoong Wei Long. It will attempt to showcase what this generation of Singaporean youths really cares about and has to say on various topics like foreign politics, the arts and global issues.