If people from around the world, from Asia, from Africa, from Latin America could vote, Obama would definitely beat McCain, right? Obama wants to work with the world after all, look at how they greeted him in Berlin.
This thought is probably considered obvious by political people across the political spectrum in the U.S. today.
And as such, it's a sign of how oblivious such people are to the global reality. Of how truly Common Dreams are kept at bay.
If there were a global election for the president of the United States -- not a morally absurd idea since the policies of the United States as executed by the president affect people around the globe -- neither Obama nor McCain would stand a chance.
Assuming the people around the world knew about other candidates, that is.
For example, if they knew that Ralph Nader (running as an independent) has been fighting against against big business dominating people's lives for decades. Or that Cynthia McKinney was proposing impeaching Bush back in 2004. Or that McKinney is running on the Green Party ticket -- a global political party. Or that they both did some actual work to try to avert the invasion of Iraq. Or that they both state they want to ensure the primacy of international law in international affairs.
Realistically, if the people of the world could vote in the U.S. election, it would probably be a close race between McKinney and Nader. The Socialist candidate would be the dark horse candidate. Obama and McCain would be in single digits.
[originally published at husseini.org on July 25, 2008]