America unhappy with its choices this US elections
Eight falls ago, as the myriad shades of foliage left one in awe and the countryside looked picture perfect, there was hope in the air in the US.
A hope that things could change for better. A hope that the superpower nation under severe criticism globally for its neocon policies, invasions and suffering from domestic war fatigue, could lead the world again in a dignified way.
A hope that enlightenment would replace disillusionment. Black drivers on trams strolling down the Bay Area in California on a quiet sunny morning using loudspeakers to ask Americans to go vote. Autumn leaves strewn by the winds at the beautiful Madison University in Milwaukee as students wrote with chalk on the floor "Yes, We Can".
That was the spirit of 2008 during my first visit to the US as part of an international visitors' leadership programme. From Washington DC to San Francisco, Milwaukee, Chicago and New York - the energy was infectious.
There were several questions too on everyone's mind. Would America finally break the barriers of race in the highest political office and elect a black man as President? Or would American inclusivity slip and fall into the ugly racial cracks?
Would a native white America that witnessed the Civil Rights Movement to seek equal rights for blacks, finally pave the way for an Afro-American Commander-in-Chief in Barack Obama? The stakes were high, but the tones civil and the mood upbeat.
But eight years later, as America awaits another historic election that could break the glass ceiling by electing a woman president, the mood is definitely depressing.
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| As America awaits another historic election that could break the glass ceiling by electing a woman president, the mood is depressing. (Photo credit: AP) |
Over the past few weeks, interactions with a wide cross-section of Americans - whites, blacks, men, women, the elderly and the young have underlined one thing - the point of dissatisfaction with both candidates is at its highest in this poll, unlike earlier elections to the White House. The campaign has been highly polarised but lacking in spirit.
An army major in Hawaii supporting the Republicans remained indecisive till the last day of exercising his ballot. A liberal, he was caught in the conflict of policy versus personality. He stressed categorically that sexual assault lewd remarks caught on tape were not "locker room banter" as claimed by Republican contender Donald Trump.
Major Bradley Hudson who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan and preferred Jeb Bush and Ben Carson in the primaries now endorses Trump strongly. He asks why shouldn't Democrat contender Hillary Clinton go through a trial process in the email controversy like other top ranking military personnel?
"Is it her sense of entitlement? Is it because of her elevated status or who she was and who she is?" he asks. Bradley holds a strong grudge against Republicans who do not stand united against Trump who did manage to beat his opponents in the party convention.
An aged Afro-American woman waiting for a bus in a New Jersey terminal shuddered to think that Trump's victory is not ruled out. "He is crazy and there is so much of hatred in him," she said.
While another Republican supporter and government official controlled his urge to throw things at the television set as we watched the final presidential debate together.
Every now and then, he would laugh out loud and say: "This man was not my choice for presidential candidate. And he does not even make an effort to make those like me like him. He refuses to learn or prepare for debates.
"Differences in opinions form the very basis of party politics anywhere. But the sense of anger, confusion, apprehension or simple disinterest on the streets of America stands out. Campaign violence to allegations of poll-rigging have only added to the vulnerability of the world's oldest democracy.
Michael, a young college student and part-time Uber driver in New York, told this journalist that he was rooting for Bernie Sanders. And it really hurt him to see the way the establishment put its weight behind Hillary, thus making it a biased convention.
Michael is not sure he wants to vote at all. Another young taxi driver of Japanese descent, who is saving up to try his luck at the jackpot in Las Vegas in two years from now, says it is very difficult to believe the Clintons, given their past. And he couldn't care less about which of the two candidates wins, since both are "unfit for the top job".
An elderly psychoanalyst Lhindaa from Mexico holidaying in New York with her two teenage grandsons could not hold her anger at the mention of Trump. At a breakfast table conversation she hoped that Americans would vote sensibly.
Another hispanic out for a walk on Times Square said on the condition of anonymity: "Look Hillary is the lesser of the two evils. America could have really done better."
Perhaps that speaks volume when people drag themselves to the voting booth to make a compromise instead of a happy choice.
And before America can be great again, it needs to have hope and spirit back - which was not lacking in the November of 2008.