In Barack Obama's remarkable book The Audacity of Hope, the president-elect of the United States of America shares his vision on reclaiming the 'American Dream'. The book is remarkable for its historical understanding of the issues in America and the desire for the development of a different political culture. The author expresses concern at the divisiveness that has developed across the spectrum of ideas in America.
"Americans disagreed - on Iraq, taxes, abortion, guns, the Ten Commandments, gay marriage, immigration, trade, education policy, environmental regulation, the size of government, and role of the courts. Not only did we disagree, but we disagreed vehemently, with partisans on both sides of the divide unrestrained in the vitriol they hurled at opponents," wrote Obama.
"We disagreed on the scope of our disagreements, the nature of our disagreements, and the reasons for our disagree-ments. Everything was contestable, whether it was the cause of climate change or the fact of climate change, the size of the deficit or the culprits to blame for the deficit.
"I had watched campaign culture metastasise throughout the body politic, as an entire industry of insult - both perpetual and somehow profitable - emerged to dominate cable television, talk radio and the New York Times best-seller list."
The agenda for change runs like a scarlet thread throughout the book and gives hope to a nation politically and spiritually divided. It provides a direction for a different kind of leadership and stakes out a different political agenda.
The voters of America have sensed that here was a different kind of leader and they bought into the Obama vision. The hopes of a majority of Americans and millions around the world are pinned on this brave, audacious and unique biracial man.
American elections
Elections in the United States are held in the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Elections for the president - with an associated vice-president on the ticket - are held every four years. The overall national popular vote does not necessarily determine the outcome of the election for the President. This is finally determined by the number of electoral votes that each candidate obtains, which in turn is determined by the result of the popular vote for each of the 50 states.
The states are allocated electoral votes depending on their population. There are sometimes changes based on population shifts. For example, Florida moved from 25 in 2000 to 27 in 2008. California, being the most populous state, has 55 electoral votes while Delaware and Vermont each only have three. The total number of electoral votes is 537, so that the winning candidate must obtain 270 votes to win the election.
The Democratic and Republican party votes essentially determine the result, though there have, in recent years, been a number of splinter candidates such as Ralph Nader, who have had little or no impact on the overall result.
The Presidential Election
The results of the last four presidential elections (1996-2008) in the US have been very interesting, in terms of the distribution of the electoral votes, for it is by definition, electoral votes and state majorities that carry the candidate to victory.
Traditionally, the Democrats have been strong in the East and West coasts, while the Republicans have been strong in the Midwest and South. A number of bellwether states have been traditionally swing and indicator states. They go with the winner.
The 1996 election
Democrat Bill Clinton was elected for a second term and captured many of the traditional Republican seats, including Florida. He has had the largest electoral seat majority (379) in the last four elections.
The 2000 election
Republican George W. Bush was elected in one of the most controversial elections in recent US history. For one thing, Al Gore won the national popular vote and the final result depended on the result of the 25 Florida electoral votes. The result involved a majority ruling by the United States Supreme Court and numerous recounts in various Florida counties. Eventually, after over a month of back and forth, Bush was declared the winner with an electoral vote majority of 5. The opinions are still divided as to who finally won, depending on how the votes were counted. The electoral vote count was that close: 271-266.
The 2004 election
Republican George W. Bush retained the presidency with a slightly increased majority of 35: Bush 286, Kerry 252. There was some controversy in this election also as it was argued that there were irregularities in the state of Ohio which could have possibly led to the Democrats winning the state and with the large number of electoral votes (20) could have won the elections. Kerry decided not to contest the election and the decision was confirmed the following day.
The 2008 election
Democrat Barack Obama swept the popular and Electoral College vote with the largest popular vote as well as the largest majority in recent times. His majority of some 9.5 million votes was the largest on record. Obama also captured nine states from the Republicans, with a total electoral vote count of 112. This was a decisive factor. The states that he captured were:
In the West: Nevada (5)
In the Midwest: Colorado (9) and New Mexico (5)
In the South, Florida (27)
In the North and East: Indiana (11), Iowa (7), North Carolina (15), Ohio (20), and Virginia (13).
Legislative control
The presidential elections are accompanied by elections for a number of other positions, as well as other voter issues. The most important elections are for the Senate and House of Represen-tatives seats. Elections for these positions are held every two years.
A Democratic or Republican majority in the Senate or House is crucial to the sitting president's legislative agenda. There has on some occasions been a shift of control in the Senate and or House in the mid-term elections.
An important consideration is, to what extent does the election of the president impact on the Senate and House seat vote.
In the case of Barack Obama's election in 2008, he has had a huge impact on voting, for both the Senate and the House.
Senate Seats
A senator is elected for a period of six years and both of the two Senate seats for any one state are not normally contested at the same time. Usually, about one-third of the 100 seats are elected biennially. In the 2006 mid-term elections, control of the Senate shifted to the Democrats with a majority of one. In the 2008 elections, decisive control shifted to the Democrats with a gain of seven or eight seats moving from a majority of 51 in 2006 to 58 or 59 in 2008.
House of Representatives seats
All 435 of the House seats are up for election at the biennial elections. In the 2006 mid-term elections, control of the House shifted to the Democrats with a majority of 31. In the 2008 elections, the Democrats gained an additional 21 seats.
President Obama will, therefore, have strong Democratic majority support from both the Senate and the House for his legislative agenda for change. The leaders of the Senate and House will feature significantly in the coming days as the president-elect seeks to fashion his bipartisan approach to the American economic crisis.
For the Democrats, the leaders are Harry Reid (Senate) and Nancy Pelosi (House).
For the Republicans, the leaders are Mitch McConnell (Senate) and John Boehner (House).