Where I grew up as a kid – and even in the university during my studies in polical science – American democracy was often scorned.\u00a0“The guy with the most money always wins”, it was said. “What’s so democratic about it, anyway – it all comes down to the question of who has the larger advertisement-budget.”<\/p>\n
Implying: American democracy is really nothing more than a mechanism for promoting the interest of the\u00a0large corporations. As opposed to the will of the people.<\/p>\n
How wrong this was – and is. The truly magnificent campaign the whole world has witnessed for the past many month demonstrates one thing above all other: it demonstrates a will to reach out to the people, the citizens, the voters. A will to engage and include the millions of people living not all that close to the political establishment. A will to bridge the divide between “elite” and “mass” and in that sense heal\u00a0a society otherwise threathening\u00a0to fall apart in antagonism and alienation.<\/p>\n
Yes, it\u00a0takes money to do so. But it also takes talent. Visions. Charisma, clarity – even good looks and fancy dress. The cocktail\u00a0needed to carry you through to the final show-down, two candidates facing each other, is extremely complex. And the electoral process ensures, that only the best combinations ends up in the final round. That the two candidates\u00a0presents alternatives that truly embodies, expresses and\u00a0communicates political visions and ideas. And the money – or the ability to raise them! – is in this sense both a requisite for, but – and this is often forgot – also an effect of, the candidates successes.<\/p>\n
This year, even more than before, testifies to this. And is hardly illustrated any better than by Obama’s presidential victory speech.\u00a0This is what you get\u00a0– phenomenal political rhetoric!\u00a0Here’s the “yes we can”-part:\u00a0<\/p>\n
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