Oui Nous Pouvons! (Yes We Can!)

“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics

is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”

~ Plato ~

All my friends back home know how passionate I am about politics. WSU Political Science classes, the daily, free New York Times newspapers, The Daily Show, and MSNBC are some of the things I miss the most here. Not being in the U.S. for this election is killing me! I would love to be working on campaigns and waiving signs for Obama, but I know my work here is also important and valuable, so I’m not too bummed.

Moto driver who took me to the internet cafe today.

I’ve been addicted to MSNBC for years, but being in Togo means that, sadly, I can’t get my daily fix of Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow. I miss hearing the opinions of “How Fine” (Howard Fineman), Ezra Klein, and the smooth talking Eugene Robinson! Anyone who is a Facebook friend of mine knows how much I love The Daily Show. I used to go to the WSU Rec Center at 6am every morning because I knew that was the time The Daily Show would be replaying from the night before. Watching Jon Stewart tear into Mitt Romney and the Republicans, while working out, would make me laugh out loud, sometimes warranting some weird looks from others!

Arriving in Togo, I wasn’t sure what the Togolese would think about America or our politics. It didn’t take long to figure out that the everyone LOVES Obama. Obama products are everywhere...Obama t-shirts, Obama towels, Obama bowls... I’m still on the lookout for Obama pagne. One night at my host family’s house, the French news was on and the newscasters were talking about Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention. I didn’t hear her speech, but it sounds like she hit it out of the park. Then the coverage changed to talking about the Republicans, Mitt Romney, and his V.P. candidate. My host family seemed to be thoroughly confused, and didn’t understand why anyone would choose not to vote for Obama.

All the Togolese I've met LOVE Obama. If you just say “Obama!” you will bring a smile to anyone’s face. How amazing is that! Think about it, would “Romney!” receive the same reaction from people half way across the world? I think not. Obama is special. I’m hoping that the rest of America realizes this before Nov. 6, otherwise we are in for a rough ride. The world thought we were idiots for re-electing Bush, I thought we were too. I can only imagine what they will think of us if we don’t hold on tight to Obama, and let someone like Romney take over. Ugh.