Nevine Khalil reflects on campaigning for Obama "I'm Egyptian and I volunteered for the Obama campaign," I told Oscar winner Forest Whitaker last week. He shook my hand vigorously: "That's good. I'm really glad you did that. I was in Africa and I know there is a lot of support for Obama there." It was an all too brief encounter as The Last King of Scotland toured the state of Michigan campaigning on behalf of Barack Obama. But it was enough to impress me on how politics is done here. I have already trained my four-year-old daughter to recite "Yes we can!" at any mention of Obama's name. Now she puts a lot of thought into which of her seven 'Obama 2008' buttons she will wear to campaign events. You can never start them too young. It just happens that the same day we went to see Whitaker, we received a letter in the mail marked from John McCain. It was exciting, but not for any ideological reasons. When they address a letter in your name, you feel like an influential constituent whose support will make the world of difference to the candidate. Of course, we'd received letters from Jimmy Carter in the past thanking us for supporting his pet project Habitat for Humanity, but they arrived a quarter of a century after he left office. A great man, but well past his political prime. The short of it is that McCain wanted money. It was a ludicrous request. He had just shut down his campaign in Michigan a week earlier, showing the frailty of his drive for the presidency by giving up a battleground state he had earlier identified as vital to winning the election. "Dear Friend," the letter said, "I am reaching out to you to sign and return the enclosed 2008 Pledge to Support along with a campaign contribution of $35, $50, $100, $500, $1,000, $2,500 or even $5,000 to the McCain-Palin Victory 2008." He asked for the same amounts four times in a single letter. "The Obama Democrat," the letter went on, "continue to show weak judgment by stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the success of the surge strategy in Iraq... We intend to win the war... We will apply our successful tactics in Afghanistan and see that conflict through to success." Not only is McCain predicting success in Afghanistan, he went on to promise to "promote freedom and democracy throughout the world." An even more frightening notion. Until a few years ago McCain was the favourite Republican of many Democrats who were able to intellectually leap over the ideological fence for the overall good. He was a regular guest on popular satirical news shows such as the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, laughing along with many of Stewart's jokes about incumbent George W Bush and his sdministration. After losing a bruising campaign to Bush for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination, McCain broke with fellow Republicans on a number of key issues. He is reported to have flirted with the idea of switching parties in early 2001. Some idealists went as far as wanting John Kerry to pick McCain as his running mate in the 2004 presidential race. They felt this would ensure victory for the dreary Kerry and symbolise true bipartisanship in leading the US and the world. But after lending his ear - and soul, it seems - to his campaign managers, who just happen to be the same people who worked to bring him down when Bush was running for office in 2000, McCain has lost fans from across the political spectrum. The most obvious failure of his campaign so far is pulling out of the vote-rich Midwest state of Michigan, historically a swing state. Politically, it has Democratic leanings, though it strongly supported Republican luminary Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. Meanwhile, McCain's slanderous media machine continues to spew out disinformation about the Democratic ticket. Even more unnerving is when supporters shout "terrorist" and "kill him" after McCain's vice presidential pick Sarah Palin rants about Obama's relationship with radical Chicagoan Bill Ayers. This rabid baying for blood is goes uncensored by Republican candidates. Of course, the real issues for average voters are those which affect their pocketbooks -- taxes, healthcare and the price of gas. Yes, they want their troops back from far away lands before any more are killed, but that's as far as the majority is interested in foreign policy. The Middle East peace process, Iran, Osama bin Laden, all take a back seat when my next door neighbour loses $20,000 in investments in one month, her retirement saving steadily eroding because the US economy is collapsing. Meanwhile, those who are politically inclined try to do what they can to salvage the immediate future of this country and, in turn, the world. Whenever we go to the Obama campaign office, my four-year-old thinks we are going to meet the man himself. She's dismayed when I explain that Obama won't be there, just more campaign signs for our friends and family. I believe her sentiments will be shared the world over if Obama doesn't make history on 4 November and take his seat in the Oval Office.
