Way back in June 2004, a young senator from the American state of Illinois made an electrifying speech at the Democratic National Convention that left many wondering whether he had presidential aspirations. The very thought that he could make a presidential pitch was considered audacious because he was an African-American. In recent times, only one African-American had sought presidential nomination. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader, had failed in his attempt to win the Democratic Party nomination in 1984 and 1988. The New York Times wrote in 1987: “Most political analysts give him little chance of being nominated partly because he is black, partly because of his unretrenched liberalism.”
Twenty years later, Barack Obama, the senator who made that speech about common people’s bread-and-butter issues, proved speculation right by fighting for, and winning, the Democratic Party’s nomination for President. The rest is history.
A survey showed three-fourths of Indian-origin people voted for Obama in the election that gave him a second term in the White House. His popularity among Indians in India is no less. So much so that he could well have won most Indian votes if the US presidential poll had been held here.
The reasons are not far to seek. The foremost one is his unassuming demeanour. Indians in general like unpretentious, simple behaviour in public. Obama is an exemplar of such conduct. A great contrast to the snootiness of his immediate predecessor, George W. Bush. Bush’s air of superiority came from both his illiberal ideology and personal shallowness.
Obama’s inauguration in 2009 and his subsequent announcements about ending the Iraq war extinguished much of the hostility towards the United States that Bush had generated. With Obama’s ascendance, America’s image began to look up. In India, as elsewhere on the globe, the perception of America as an “imperialist” and “invader” was on the wane. It was a far cry from 1983 when Ronald Reagan ordered troops into Grenada, tiny Caribbean island nation, to dislodge a leftist regime-a decision that had even Margaret Thatcher, Reagan’s closest ally, fuming.
Obama’s efforts to keep both Pakistan and Afghanistan on a tight leash over terrorism have been received well in India, as was the killing of Osama bin Laden by US Navy SEALS. Strictly, it can be called an incursion into Pakistani territory, but Osama’s elimination brought much respite to, and cheer in, India – which has suffered the ravages of cross-border terrorism for decades.
The President has knack of mingling with common people and looking like the regular guy. The backslapping and hugging over beer at countryside bars is an intercourse that is as social as it is political. Hidden behind the banter over drinks is an earnestness that makes Obama likeable.
The dynamism and youthfulness Obama displays has been seen in only one post-independence Indian leader: Jawaharlal Nehru. Fired by idealism, and powered by a vision of a modern India, Nehru was a darling of the masses. He would hurl back garlands thrown at him by admirers, take a detour to listen to people waiting to meet him, dart into a communal frenzy to save a life. His outspokenness and no-nonsense approach brought upon him numerous rivalries even in the Congress; but, as a biographer put it, it was romance with the Indian people. Obama would do well to learn more about Nehru, for he is so much like the Indian leader.
Obama is the man Indians would like to invite home on Eid or Diwali. Or have a tea party with.