Transition / Transformation (odds & ends)

I've been absent from this space since the end of September.  In the interim, the election has finally finished.  The lesser of two evils has prevailed.  There is a sense of cautious hope in the land.  We have a president-elect who talks about the "good war" in Afghanistan and throws around the Republican-created term "War on Terror" with alarming ease, but on the plus side seems to be living in the real world, believes in the Constitution, values competence over political loyalty and appears to make policy based on practical reality -- characteristics sadly missing for at least the last 8 years. 

My excuse for my silence here is "Technical Difficulties."  I've been back in Spain since Oct 2, and my internet connection didn't get connected until a few days ago. 

But the truth is that I haven't written anything here because I didn't know what to say.  I wanted to write something about Barack Obama during the lead-up to the national election, but the more I watched Team Obama in operation, the weaker my enthusiasm for his candidacy became -- to the point where when I finally cast my vote on September 29th, I found myself voting almost exclusively for Not-McCain-Palin, with the name of the Democratic candidate largely incidental to my decision.

I'm back here in Spain for another few weeks, then it's back to Champaign for the holidays with family and friends.  Before I return, I wanted to jot down some quick observations about the Spanish take on America in these interesting times.  I may even flesh some of them out over the next couple of weeks.

Anyway, here they are, in no particular order.

• Europeans are totally baffled by the American electoral process.  Actually, it might be more accurate to say that Europeans are baffled by America.  Period.  But the Bush fiasco has drawn more international attention to the 2008 elections than any American political campaign in memory, and has left observers scratching their heads.  From the length of time involved in the primary contests to the incredible sums of money involved to the fact that the person who gets the most votes isn't necessarily the winner, foreign observers have been watching and wondering if this isn't a hell of a way to run a democracy.
• Among those who have actually been paying attention to the candidates and positions, there is incredulity that the results weren't more like 90/10 or  85/15.  They viewed McCain as a threat to the future of the world and were totally befuddled by the selection of Sarah Palin.
  
• The European press seems to be paying more attention to the American auto industry than to any other aspect of the financial meltdown.  Perhaps this has something to do with GM and Ford both being major players in the European auto market?

There are others, but those are the main points.  Stay tuned for more on these and other odds and ends I've picked up in Spain during the 2008 American elections.