Close up: Obama's loss By Salama A Salama Egyptian elections, flawed as they are, have kept us from following the much more consequential elections that took place in the United States. Our elections are not going to change much, not even at home, whereas US elections are going to change a lot of things, inside and outside America. For one thing, the US elections may change the US position as world leader. In Egypt and the Middle East, we feel the ripples of every change that happens in the US domestic scene. As a matter of fact, we're often more influenced by the outcome of American elections than the outcome of our own. The mid-term elections have made life difficult for Obama, the man who was elected two years ago on a wave of public optimism and a promise to sort out the mess left behind by the Bush administration. The Americans put in office a black president for the first time in their history, a man who epitomised the country's legacy of freedom and human rights. But the legacy alone was not enough to surmount the troubles the former administration had strewn in its path. Obama and his Democratic Party had to contend with ferocious opposition from the Republicans, as well as the resentment and racism of the US rightwing. Despite the Democratic majority in Congress, Obama couldn't push through the reforms he had hoped to introduce. In a political system such as the American one, the president needs solid legislative and public support to implement his programmes. Obama has apparently failed to rally the Americans behind his goals. And he overlooked the disappointment and despair that have taken hold of large swathes of the middle class. The US economy is still shaky. Obama may have succeeded in reforming the healthcare system, but despite considerable government outlays he couldn't reverse worsening unemployment. And he couldn't revive the much-needed bipartisan spirit in Congress. The unbearable cost of the war in Afghanistan, a topic most Americans hate even to discuss, is taking its toll. Coalition countries are tired of the war, tired of the rising toll among their troops, and discouraged by the apparent resurgence of the Taliban. Obama has tried to get his generals to draw an exit strategy for Afghanistan, but so far without much success. Surrounded by so much failure, Obama became desperate enough to resort to scare tactics. The recent parcel bombs planned by Yemen-based Al-Qaeda may not have been a major threat, but Obama made a big fuss about them, announcing their discovery himself as if it was a major breakthrough. Other parcel bombs, sent to European embassies, turned out to have been the work of an extremist outfit in Greece. In general, the Americans are not losing much sleep over foreign issues. The Palestinian issue is not one of their priorities, nor is it a topic over which people switch votes from the Democrats to the Republicans. As a result, US policy in the Middle East is losing momentum, and becoming more accommodating to the wishes of Israel and its friends in the US Congress. Interestingly enough, the White House is said to be taking renewed interest in the proceedings of Egyptian elections. Obama can survive the disappointment of mid- term elections, but only if he works closely with the Republicans and forges solid bipartisan policy. If he manages to do that, he would have a good chance of winning a second term in office, as Clinton did in similar circumstances. Otherwise, his fate will be similar to that of Jimmy Carter.
