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Voters in U.S. 2008 presidential election: c. 131 million
Total voters in all U.S. pres. elections, 1788-1908: c. 137 million
Last week's Trade Fact worried about trends in democracy abroad. This week, democracy at home seems in good health. This morning's estimates suggest that 131 million American men and women voted in yesterday's election -- 9 million more than in 2004, 25 million more than in 2000, and nearly as many as the combined total of all American voters in the 32 presidential elections between 1788 and 1908. Voters' sole complaint seems to have been about long lines. President-elect Obama, Vice President-elect Biden, the 111th Congress and the newly elected state & local officials inherit lots of troubles and challenges, but also some enduring national strengths.
Commentary, generally enthusiastic, from 10 papers around the world:
Karachi-based Dawn is enthusiastic: "Mr. Obama provides excitement, a desperately needed jolt of political electricity. If he is elected, America will instantly be seen in a new light around the world ... because the country has found it within itself to turn to someone truly new, whose astonishing ascent could have happened nowhere else on earth. Only in America."
http://www.dawn.com/2008/11/05/int9.htm
The West Australian covers reactions among Perth's expatriate American community:
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77
&ContentID=106512
Tel Aviv's Ha'aretz is admiring: "Yesterday, the U.S. once again justified its title as leader of the free world: It concluded a campaign that is a worthy model for emulation.":
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1034323.html
Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun is cautious and focused on diplomacy: "For many Japanese government officials, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is an unknown quantity... Two key challenges will be Tokyo's support for the U.S.-led war against terrorism in Afghanistan, initiated by President George W. Bush, and cooperation in dealing with North Korea. [Prime Minister Taro] Aso said Wednesday that the Japan-U.S. relationship will remain the cornerstone of Japan's foreign policy."
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/
TKY200811050340.html
Columnist Koh Lay Chin of Kuala Lumpur's New Straits Times says that "for the first time in history, people all over the world are riveted to an election they feel invested in, despite not sniffing anywhere near a green card":
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/
Columns/2393204/Article/index_html
Nairobi's East African Standard is as extensive and enthusiastic as one might guess:
http://www.eastandard.net/
Belize's Amandla ponders race relations: "In Belize this evening, apart from the floods and the catastrophe on the Northern Highway south of the Haulover Bridge, the headline news is really in the United States, and it's all about looking forward to tomorrow. Someone who looks like a lot of us Belizeans, Barack Obama, the Senator from Illinois, is actually leading the polls as the favorite to win the presidency of the most powerful nation in the world. Many Belizeans are holding their collective breath. They are glued to their television sets as they hope for what Americans forty years ago would have considered a miracle inconceivable.":
http://www.amandala.com.bz/index.php?id=7658
Columnist Humberto Campodonico of Lima's Diario la Republica, reporting from Big Timber, MT, invokes history: "Es claro que los retos y desafíos para el ganador solo se comparan a los que tuvo que encarar Franklin D. Roosevelt hace más de 70 años." [It is clear that the challenges for the victory can be compared only to those Franklin Roosevelt faced 70 years ago.]:
http://www.larepublica.com.pe/content/view/
253993/559/
Dublin's Irish Times ponders lessons for Irish politicians from the US' Internet-based campaigns:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/
2008/1105/1225523370769.html
And the Toronto Star's Vinay Menon sees a bleak future for America's standup comedy industry:
http://www.thestar.com/News/Columnist/article/529953
