Just a drop in the ocean!

Gandhi said to be the change you want to see in the world. But what if the world around me doesn't want to change? You’re stuck with no light at the end of the tunnel. No way out! In the midst of international relations enthusiasts and yet they seem to not understand its very concept. You want to change the world, but you refuse to change yourself by bridging social capital and letting new in. Putnam I think never imagined the degree of exclusion associated with bonding social capital. It’s a lonely world, where people aren't open to the different and prefer to shut their eyes and imagine as invisible the lost and floating ; the very opportunity given to them to experience life through another. Subsisting within your walls, keeping different out? Not a language barrier, not the fear of a culture invasion. Instead the choice is self made to keep on the outside what you believe doesn't bleed like you. In fact, the wounding pain of exclusion and invisibility causes more blood from one than the joining together of all those that swirl around behind their vacuum-tight smoke screens. You want to change the world… then be real about who you are and change yourselves first. Open your hearts to the lost souls around you, because their blood is not as green as you think! Changing the world is not just moving mountains, but it’s touching the hearts of the forlorn and the joining together of souls from the farthest reach of the imagination. 

The first man of the world is… BARACK OBAMA

Last days, the most attention was concentrated on United States, actually on the candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.  On Tuesday, November 6, 2012, forty-fifth president of the United States was elected.  As might be assumed, Obama won this election with 303 electoral votes, while Romney had 206. The great battle is done!

During the last few months, people in Obama’s campaign did a great job. It was tough process to secure another mandate for the first black American elected president. In the last week of presidential elections, person who was the most active was former American president-Bill Clinton. Regardless the fact that he was totally against Obama’s campaign in the 2008, this year he was the most important actor that represented Obama’s believes. This is not the only tie between these two men; they are the last two democrats re-elected at this position.

It seems that Obama did not attract white men Americans to vote for him, but women, minorities, and young voters saw a huge potential in the old-new elected President. That was enough to beat Republican candidate Mitt Romney. It is quite easy to say now that Romney wasn’t so strong rival against Obama, but after the first presidential debate it seemed that there is a potential for him. Luckily, President woke up in the last two rounds and knocked out him in the fields of foreign and security policy, but also attract attention of the voters by emphasizing the stands about women rights to decide about their selves alone without leaving a room for state to intervene in the sphere of right on abortion. Romney was mostly playing on the card of economy policies and called upon Romney-Ryan ticket showing their stands about budget policy. But, that wasn’t enough because president Obama convince the voters that Romney still is not able to cope with challenges that could be put in front of him during the mandate of four years, if he would be elected. Thank God, Americans recognized Obama as more representative and responsible person to lead it in the next mandate. It is important to state that the voters decided in the favor of the Obama, regardless the situation in economy and the unemployment rate that is almost 8%.

First thing that stays in front of new President is the problem of legalizing Marijuana in Colorado and Washington. The question is how this law is going to be implemented because THC is still illegal at the state level laws. These two states would be exceptions for this American rule. Another issue is creation of new jobs and lowering the unemployment rate.  Good luck with that!
                It seems that the sun is again up in America. New opportunities are again in front of the leaders of one of the crucial players in international scene. We hope that the decisions that are going to be taken in next four years will have positive outcome for America because that is going to affect the whole world; America is still the main policymaker around the globe. At the end, economic growth in this part of the world will have good consequences for smaller and developing states. Break a leg, Obama!

Election Day Countdown...Four more days...

Two Big News Breakers and One Twist Please!!!

It seems like one storm over and another one straight ahead! With only four days to go, the big question on everyone’s mind:  Who will be the next president of the United States? After a brief hiatus due to “Frankenstorm Sandy”, both candidates put aside their temporary truce and once again hit the campaign trail as they enter the final stretch of the election looming less than 96 hours away. The big headlines this week include the release of the final jobs report, the shocking endorsement of Obama by Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg and Republican Governor Christie caught bonding with the competition. 

As the numbers come in for the last US jobs report before Election Day, according to media reports, Friday's unemployment stats means that President Obama will face voters with the highest unemployment rate of any incumbent since Franklin Roosevelt! Top line: American job creation improved in October with 171,000 new jobs added, but the jobless rate rises to 7.9%, up from 7.8%. What a way to set the stage for a final push to the finish line in an already heated presidential campaign!

In this virtual dead heat election that seems like a photo-finish horse race, both candidates have been eagerly seeking the backing of Bloomberg, a former Republican who didn't endorse a presidential candidate in 2008. To everyone’s amazement, President Obama got a major campaign boost when he finally got the vote of confidence from the politically independent third-term mayor of America’s largest city. Whether this will seal the deal for the President’s re-election is still unknown, but at least we know, it certainly can’t hurt his chances!  As for the effects of Hurricane Sandy, so far it seems that Election Day is still scheduled for November 6. There is no word yet on what will happen to those badly hit areas that will probably have their power restored days after the election. Neither are there any official reports on how this will affect the Obama campaign since the eastern seaboard is primarily democratic. However through the darkness of this terrible disaster, there was some proverbial light… Besides the free media coverage showcasing Obama as a caring, strong leader, also dominating the airwaves was the forming of an unlikely pairing between the President and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. The Republican Governor publicly thanked Obama for his compassion and prompt assistance. And in a shocking twist to the republican campaign- when asked during a television interview whether Romney would also be visiting New Jersey, Mr. Christie said bluntly: "I have no idea, nor am I the least bit concerned or interested!” What perfect timing for such a comment! How this will affect Romney’s campaign remains to be seen!


As for current standings, state-wide polls released Thursday differed on who was ahead in Colorado and Iowa, but showed Obama with a single-digit lead in Nevada and Wisconsin. Eight of nine surveys this week in the crucial battleground state of Ohio gave Obama a narrow edge. Based on this week’s headlines and these figures we can all agree... Romney needs a “Hail Mary pass” miracle to win this election!

Final Presidential Debate - Game Over?!

WAS IT GOOD ENOUGH TO ENSURE OBAMA"S RE-ELECTION????

  
The most significant event from this week was definitely the third and final presidential debate held in Florida. Obama came with more confidence and coherency on foreign policy than his  challenger and quickly won the upper hand. Over the last four years, as the incumbent he had been receiving new information and gaining the necessary experience. He looked smoother, undisturbed, and more focused on major points, while Romney focused on finding clear differences with Obama’s approaches, hammering him on both foreign and domestic policies.
Compared to what we have seen in the previous debates, this one was circular and quite boring to say the least. It shouldn't have even been called a debate, as Romney spent the majority of 90 minutes agreeing with Obama's policies! That would explain why immediate reaction polls and analysts alike agreed that Obama emerged victorious, with the average of the polls (CBS News, CNN and Google polls) weighing in a 16 point advantage in the President’s favor.      

Perhaps the most bizarre was the fact that Romney agreed with Obama on Bin Laden points, on Iran sanctions and on the status of forces in Iraq. Romney has the same attitude as Obama?! We can all now safely say that Romney now apparently agrees with the Obama administration's foreign policies!

Foreign and security policy is always easier for presidents, given their everyday dealings on the global front. Romney has been doing his own investigations and getting his own reports, however it clearly was not the same. Instead, Romney sounded like he was trying to remember his study notes! As we have seen every time Romney had a chance to talk about economy and education, he did it well an unrehearsed. It seems he feels more comfortable when he is tackling economy and education issues, than foreign policy.

The Libya topic was Romney’s great surprise and his missed opportunity! He was supposed to hammer Obama about the mistakes made in the attack on Benghazi on September, 11, 2012, but instead he talked about better education, gender equality, and missed the opportunity to establish that the Obama administration is not only useless, but also making the USA susceptible to terrorist attacks and endangering the lives of the American people.  

Even though Obama had a solid win at this debate, the polls do not show any major improvement to the Democrat campaign, as there has been little change this week. Perhaps because, the average voter is not as concerned with foreign policy as domestic ones. However, since “winning makes you a winner”, even the slightest edge is beneficial to each campaign.

To conclude, Romney's biggest rival was not the president, it was his own words. Obama did a brilliant job of bringing up past Romney statements – on Iraq, on Afghanistan, on Osama bin Laden – he made him look unprepared for the presidency. 

The only thing that we can do now is to wait for the final voting results and hope that it will just be the beginning of a brighter future and that soon it will be “morning in America, again”. May the best man win!

Presidential Debate - Round 2 - Obama strikes back!!!

The most important event from the past week was definitely the second presidential debate in New York. The presidential candidates were challenged to directly answer questions from the audience. Some of the questions were clearly answered, but others not so much. After the debate, the media was full of comments on winners and losers and they all agreed that Obama won the debate. This time we had an opportunity to see a more aggressive performance from Obama.

During the debate, we recorded different kind of faces, pointing of fingers, interruption of candidates, but that created the atmosphere of movement. The candidates were really fighting to convince the audience that they are the best choice for America in this moment. This time President Obama showed that he can clearly answer the provocations of his rival Governor Romney without being overly aggressive and arrogant. That was the thing he was criticized about after the previous debate. He was calm and ready to point out all the issues that Mitt Romney presented in the wrong way. His tactic was not to attack aggressively, but just finding facts and figures to support his agenda. On the other side, Governor Romney was more concerned to present Obama as the person who did not meet the expectations of his voters and somebody who should not be re-elected in these elections. Furthermore, he was using the phrases that could have a huge impact on the targeting groups of voters to encourage them to give him a vote; this was totally obvious in the closing statement he gave where he was using religion as the main wheel for his purpose.

These days, the candidates were making jokes about their campaigns and the issues that came up. One of the newest one is that Obama said that he had enough energy in the second debate because he felt “really rested after the nice long nap during the first debate!” Well, dear President we advise you to stay awake in the next few weeks, if you want to win the 2012 elections!

Vice Presidential Debate

After last week’s presidential debate all the media unanimously concluded: Romney’s

appearance was surprisingly good and strong showing and that if the democrats want to keep their ticket up and running they need to change their strategy and they need to change it fast.

The vice presidential debate was anticipated and announced like a political version of

Survival. Who will win the heart of the American society and who will be voted off from

the “island”?

Hours before the vice presidential debate countdown, spotlights were on both of the vice

presidential candidates. Everyone wondering if Ryan will manage to build on the momentum which was created by Mitt Romney or will Biden manage to compensate for Barack Obama’s passive performance?

The media placed the highest amount of pressure upon the Biden’s back. Democrats needed

to win this fight badly. Biden had to be assertive without being nasty and make the case

where they were, where they are now and where they are going.

Ryan on the other hand had the better platform but still needs to defend and justify Mitt

Romney’s flip-flopping about on abortion issues and his use of little less-than-factual data.

The Debate started and as time passed the only sound that could be heard, was the sound of

the Republican advantage flushing down the drain. Biden managed to show the spark that

Barack Obama lacked last week. He was highly critical, assertive, often smiling to show his

disbelief in what Ryan way saying and showed that if the Republicans want to fight, he will

give them a fight.

The Media is now divided as to whether Biden’s behavior was a bit too much or whether he

provided that passion which Obama did not bring in the last debate for which he was highly

criticized.

Hence, the real question is, when you are getting hit by a bully, should you be blamed for

hitting him back?

Presidential debate Denver 2012

Last night in Denver at the first presidential debate, the main topics for the 90-minutes interface were taxes, health care, and the role of government regards to the economy - just as we all expected.     However, no one predicted the overall outcome - Romney the better contender! Romney was fiery and aggressive as he plowed over his competition. Confident and assertive may have been Romney’s body language, but was it enough to turn around the swing states?  Perhaps the real credit should be given to President Obama for keeping his usual professorial, calm and respectful demeanour as Romney proceeded to avoid any kind of straightforward response to the questions being thrown at him. He adamantly states that he is going to cut taxes, but where? He is going to close the loopholes, but which ones? He is going to make America strong again, but how? Obama kept asking for answers and explanations, but like a true politician, Romney was tight-lipped and gave nothing away, except that lovely “PBS” admission - which he’ll probably feel the backlash from when the Democrats strike back! If that weren’t frustrating enough for the President, Romney’s sudden revisionist approach to his initial campaign, would make even  Mother Teresa scream, “Who’re you kidding, middle class concerns, since when!”. 

Obama had all the weapons he needed to destroy Romney, but we all watched in shocked amazement as Romney threw punch after punch at Obama economics, his tax plans and the amusing favorite of the night “Obama care”. The President spent almost the entire session on the defensive, never throwing a jab of his own at what we viewers believed were obvious givens. For instance, Romney kept boasting that his state of Massachusetts was the best in everything all because of his leadership. He was even brazen enough to blame Obama for the current situation in the country, specifically for the unemployment rate which stands at 8.1% and the growing debt deficit. Obama could have swooped in there – the door was wide open – to shine the spotlight on the fact that Romney’s state was in fact ranking in 47^th place in job creation!   So who exactly should America actually listen to when it comes to job creation! Furthermore, with Romney’s new stance on the importance of the middle class, where does the 47% of Americans that he insulted by basically referring to them as freeloaders, where do they fit? 

Romney didn’t come away completely unscathed as Obama did issue a few memorable comebacks such as when he quipped that Romney politics is equal to the politics of George W. Bush of 2001 which caused the biggest crisis since the ‘’Great Depression’’.

Conclusively, we can all agree, Romney may have won this round, but cliché as it may be to say, the battle has just begun. Perhaps Obama will bring his fighting spirit at the next one and then we can really call it a Presidential debate.