A
battle between a chastened president and an eager candidate, it promised to be
so much more exciting than it was in the end. The national polls fooled naïve
observers like me – while those in the know watched the battleground states,
and could see that four more years of Obama was never seriously in doubt.
Romney
came across as a likeable man, devoted to his wife and surrounded by an army of
shiny offspring. But in trying to sell himself and the Republican party to the
electorate, there just seemed to be too much to conceal: the Tea Party, the
senators musing theologically on rape and abortion, the neo-cons itching for
another Middle Eastern conflict, the candidate’s own record.
He
hammered on about “jaahbs” as if it was the sole issue of the election, but it
just started to sound like it was the sole issue that the Republicans could
agree on.
So congratulations to Barack Obama. I watched from the UK 4 years ago, and felt some of the breathless excitement that greeted his first election victory. Expectations of Obama were so high then, that anything less than turning back the tides and ending world hunger would feel like underperformance. Now that he has survived the American people's disappointment, he may just get more done this time around.
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