US pre-elections show Obama could be President
Updated
If the pre-election polling is to be believed, then 47 year old Barack Obama, the African American Senator from Illinois, may soon be the President of the United States.
Presenter: Sen Lam
Speaker: Michael Parks, former editor of the Los Angeles Times, Professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California
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SEN LAM: Michael, kicking voters off an electoral roll because of name problems is this surprising in an established democracy like the United States?
PROFESSOR PARKS: It's surprising but in some respects I understand how it happens. It's difficult to translate some Asian names into English. You get people who are not particularly well educated in Asian names and they write them down differently. But it shouldn't happen and, you know, I was listening to the report and I was delighted to hear that so many Asian-American groups are now working to fix the problem.
SEN LAM: Well, is race still an issue in America despite the new immigrants of the past 50 years - the Hispanics, the new Asian-Americans, all gaining a high profile in the national consciousness but is race still an issue?
PROFESSOR PARKS: I think race has been an issue. I think it still remains an issue. We'll see it first of all, on whether there is a negative vote against Barack Obama because he's an African American. If we can overcome that historic racism then I think we're on the way... maybe not well on the way to dealing with racism more broadly.
SEN LAM: What do you make of the Bradley principle that voters might tell pollsters they will vote for Obama while they have no intention of doing so. Is that quite widespread?
PROFESSOR PARKS: Tom Bradley in 1982 ran for governor of California. The 'Los Angeles Times' poll at that time had him winning by 12 points. When the votes were counted the next day he had lost by 2. Something happened in the privacy of the voting booth. People who said, "Yes, I can vote for an African American," in fact did not. We've seen that Bradley effect diminished over the last 25 years. How much, we don't know. We'll know on Wednesday and then we can do the calculations. I would like to see it gone.
SEN LAM: Well, do you think African-American writer Shelby Steele may now wish he hadn't subtitled his latest book 'A Bound Man - Why Obama Can't Win'. Do you think American voters are finally ready to see beyond race?
PROFESSOR PARKS: I think the majority of us are. Is it enough? The margin that Obama has right now over John McCain with the margin of error if there's a Bradley effect of 4% it makes it a very iffy election. But I hope it's - I hope we're beyond that.
SEN LAM: But do you think Shelby Steele, he's seen by many as a black conservative, someone that the Republicans wheel out every time they want a so-called reasonable stance on race relations, but do you think his views are shared by many, both black and white?
PROFESSOR PARKS: No.
SEN LAM: No? So Americans don't think that black African Americans should now throw off the monkey off their backs, if you like, of being victims?
PROFESSOR PARKS: They have been victims. They inherited this situation. Uniquely, they are the Americans whose forebears aren't there by choice. They were brought there as slaves and this is still felt down to this generation. But most of the African Americans, I know, and my Dean at the Annenberg School is African American, have moved beyond it.
SEN LAM: You're listening to Radio National Connect Asia and our guest is Michael Parks, the former editor of the 'LA Times' and he's also the Professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California. Michael Parks, Obama or McCain, who do you think is better equipped to lead America to deal with the so-called "Asia Pacific Century?"
PROFESSOR PARKS: That's asking me to tell you how I voted! Let me say this. Barack Obama lived for part of his youth in Indonesia. I think he retains a feel for Asia that you can only get by living here. John McCain's father Jack, Admiral Jack McCain, lived for a time in Darwin. He was the commander-in-chief of Pacific Forces during the Vietnam War. I think John McCain knows well where Asia is. But job number one on the 20th January when whoever is elected is sworn in, will be fixing the US economy. That's going to have a profound effect on Asia, which is a major supplier of everything we consume in the United States. It's going to have a profound effect. If the United States moves from a spend/consume economy to a save/invest economy as I think it should, it's going to have an impact up and down Asia. Not only to our immediate suppliers, China, but to everybody who supplies China.
SEN LAM: And speaking of China, the US is increasingly reliant on China, not just for cheap goods but also now in this current climate, to finance its deficits. Do you think whoever gets in, will now have to deal with this power shift?
PROFESSOR PARKS: I think whoever gets in has to deal with China as an equal partner across the Asia Pacific region, that is the era of big power, here's what we're going to do, we're going to tell you. That's over and we have to move beyond that.
