I was shooting for Power Trip. Our guests that day were Kumara Mangalam Birla and Praful Patel. IT was the 4th of November. and the US election results were out.
Bush won, as expected. There is nothing quite like using “fear as the key” as a tactic for winning elections.
I remember being in school when Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress Party used similar tactics Indira Gandhi had just been assasinated, and the country was going to the polls. The campaign – that was carried on the front page of every paper was – do you want the border to be moved to your doorstep – and that kind of very volatile stuff. The opposition, of course, was caught napping. By the time they woke up and responded – and their response was “who was in charge all these years” – it was too late. It was perceived that a vote against the Congress would be a vote for India disintegrating. Rajiv Gandhi was swept into power!
So, history repeats it self in another nation. The man responsible for making the world a more dangerous place – has been elected back to power – because he convinced voters that the alternative was worse.
So what will be different about this Presidency – I guess that this time around they will attack Iran!