Abstract
San Francisco, on November, 15th, at the Civic Auditorium: thousands of people are waiting on the pavement for Barack Obama, Democrat candidate for the investiture to the presidential elections. He arrives, stands up near his car, takes a megaphone to reassure people: "don't worry, you will all enter the auditorium. And even if you don't, vote Obama!". Inside, a big and empty stage. No desk, no written speech: the candidate is alone with six thousands of people cheering him.
His speech is short, not really technical, and proposes one solution to one problem. That was Obama's speech. But that scene is exactly the same in each political meeting. Straightaway, you can see the difference between what happens in America and in France: we are not used to such proximity, wee don't expect a candidate to joke about his origins or about anything else dealing with presidential campaign. These are two different political and social models, and a successful candidate in France doesn't have the same personality than an American one, they both need different assets.
There are many reasons for such differences: America is younger than France, and the weight of tradition looks less important. Then, America is much bigger than France, and US candidates don't have as many times as french ones to meet all the population. But these explications look more like details than like global explications. In my opinion, French and American candidates don't behave in the same way because of two reasons: the first one comes from the customs, the attitudes.
The second one deals with the institutional system, where workings are specific. Those two reasons constitute the two parts of my reflection. In each country, they are topical issues that governments have to pronounce on. For instance in India, they are castes. In countries of the Middle East, they are religions whereas in Africa they are development and bribery.
Tags: American politics, institutional system, global explications,
Extract
[...] His speech is not the same as if he were opposed to a candidate from another party. It's much more difficult to face someone from the same party than yours than someone else. People choose who they think will best represent them. Primaries take place in each state, but not the same day. Iowa and New Hampshire vote first. Winning them makes you really likely to get the investiture. Primaries are not the same from a State to another. There are States in which only militants can vote for their candidates (closed primary) whereas anyone can vote in other States (open primary). [...]
[...] Moreover, the idea of equality between candidates surrounds our view of presidential campaign, and money is, in our opinion, a way to make candidates illegally privileged. In the USA, a rich candidate is a good candidate. Through money, people see success, and through success, they see capacity. Nevertheless, big firms often widely subsidize both of candidates, which show how normal is the fundraising from a company. But even if fundraising is part of the American elections, the border with bribery is sometimes permeable. [...]
[...] Those two reasons constitute the two parts of my reflection. In each country, they are topical issues that governments have to pronounce on. For instance in India, they are castes. In countries of the Middle East, they are religions whereas in Africa they are development and bribery. In the USA, people expect their candidates to talk about issues like abortion, immigration, education, health, gun control, and more recently gay's rights. People don't really want to understand the main stakes of such issues, but rather to be reassured in their convictions. [...]
[...] Whatever can be said about a good candidate, there might be a gap between what the president is, and what people expect him to be. [...]
[...] What does it take to become a successful presidential candidate in American politics? San Francisco, on November, 15th, at the Civic Auditorium. Thousands of people are waiting on the pavement for Barack Obama, Democrat candidate for the investiture to the presidential elections. He arrives, stands up near his car, takes a megaphone to reassure people: "don't worry, you will all enter the auditorium. And even if you don't, vote Obama Inside, a big and empty stage. No desk, no written speech: the candidate is alone with 6 thousands of people cheering him. [...]
