How Obama Measures up to Voters’ Expectations
By Tahir Ali
Manchester, NH
It was a hot Saturday morning and people were basking in the sun while patiently standing in line to get into the Veterans Memorial Park. Once cleared through security they end up inside the park where already a few thousands of people are right in front of them.
On the outset it appeared that there was a celebrity from Hollywood on the stage yonder. To the 'star-struck' crowd Senator Barack Hussain Obama was just that, no different. The senator was here to rally with the crowd to gather momentum in this battleground state.
With just one comment he had the crowd chanting "Obama - Obama" as he said, “John McCain got lobbyists, but I got you.”
Obama continued his attack on McCain, “I don’t want to wake up four years from now and find: China and India are still ahead of us in education, because we did not fix our education,” “we have veterans still sleeping on the street.”
Obama characterized McCain’s tax plan to be “not a dime's worth of tax relief, that's not change," he added. "That's the same old Bush economics."
I am glad that I received an early morning call from Rashid Shaikh, a Senior Director, at Nypro Inc, who wanted to see if I was willing to go to the rally, and I am glad I did.
Rashid Shaikh and I talked to news reporters. We pointed out to Chelsea Conaboy of Concord Monitor, and other reporters: Joanna Rieke and Rebecca, that the presidential candidates should not take 7 million American Muslim votes for granted. This is a demographic that was completely ignored by Al Gore in 2000. Consequently, and this is a matter of record, the American Muslim bloc vote in 2000 handed George Bush the presidency of the United States of America.
The 2000 presidential elections marked a significant change in the past voting practice of the American Muslim in that 76% of the national vote and 80% of the 80,000 Muslims in Florida voted for George W. Bush. If they had voted as in the past elections most of those votes would have gone to Al Gore.
It may have been easier to get closer to a Hollywood film star then getting close to Obama, but I managed to get within a handshake, but preferred instead to take the photo attached to this writing. But for the most part I enjoyed talking to the fans and listening to some of their candid comments:
“Did you see him?”
“Oooh Yes.”
“Couldn’t see him but I listened to him – he was beautiful.”
“There he is, behind the tent.”
“I don’t see him at all.”
Navin Pancholy, a surgeon from Vermont came with his family, kept on referring to the Senator as President.
“Not choosing Hillary was not a mistake. Joe Biden shares the same vision as Obama, so Biden was the right choice. I am not voting on gender or race, but on issues.”
“Wonderful, he is our savior. This will change our reputation in the world. The entire world will be amazed that America voted for a Black president.” – Charlotte and Harold White.
Pancholy and the Whites were right on the money. Now what remains to be seen in the not too distant future, is: how President-elect Obama measures up to the expectations of his numerous fans.
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