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Kathmandu Tuesday November 07, 2000 Kartik 22, 2057.
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An important event
Today, Americans will choose a successor to
president Bill Clinton. The closely watched US presidential race between Texas governor
George W Bush and vice-president Al Gore has generated much heat throughout the world. It
should because who gets elected does have a bearing on world affairs.
It's no doubt a close race. Even though a
number of polls show Republican candidate Bush having a razor-thin lead over opponent
Gore, and some polls show the latter leading in several vote rich states, the suspense has
nevertheless built up enough to make it a guessing game. About 148 million registered
voters vote for 538 members of the Electoral College (EC) and the EC chooses the president
in the month of December after every four years. A presidential candidate has to receive
at least 270 votes to win the race for the White House. The outcome of the race is
determined by electoral votes. Each state is given a certain number of votes based on its
population. In most cases, winning a state's popular vote by even the smallest
margin entitles a candidate to all the electoral votes. This is how the US president is
elected and twice in US history, electors have chosen presidential candidates who did not
win the popular vote. Unlike previous elections, this year the long campaign has
degenerated to personal attacks instead of focusing on state policies and programmes and
many times, issues have been conveniently sidelined.
Gore and Bush show sharp differences on
several issues including foreign policy. Gore's years at the White House and in the senate
have given him a clear edge in international experience over Bush. Gore has pressed a
prudent and active role for US forces for the purpose of nation-building. While Bush has
accused the outgoing administration of stretching the forces too thin. However, the two
men agree on the need to pump more into the US military. Gore could spend another 100
billion dollars over the next decade and Bush 45 billion dollars. This huge amount that
will be spent for manufacturing military hardware, may spark an arms race again. Besides,
regional political conflicts and arms struggle against the establishment will no doubt
increase across the globe.
The months of campaigning for the US
presidential race did not highlight economic assistance for underdeveloped countries.
Neither did it come out with some programmes that could assist health and education in
these countries. It is a fact that US policy has always been in favour of developed
countries. In Asia, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and even India have become important
US partners rather than economically backward countries. Obviously, whoever wins,
the US will have to continue this partnership for the sake of its own interests. However,
there is also great need for the US to review its policy towards the Third World where the
perception is that not only the US, but also the Developed World is not doing enough. The
US can play a leading role in the fight against poverty and deprivation. It is therefore
to be hoped that the new US president will give the priority to this issue. At least that
would be much better than spending on arms.
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