A world-wide hit
teleserye ends

The Good Life with Eli F.J. Tajanlangit

It’s been billed the greatest political show on earth, unprecedented for its nail-biting suspense as well as its costs – each side shelling out an estimated $6 billion for the exercise.

But like a properly-planned, well thought-out production, the American 2012 Elections is, hands-down, a certified global hit. Look, it’s not our officials we are electing here, but it has been the trending topic, not only in cyberspace, which it has dominated for over a year now, but even in our coffee shops, from those located in hotel lobbies to the one lining the fringes of our public market. I haven’t confirmed this, but I heard it has even spawned betting among the incorrigible gamblers around: Who will it be, incumbent Barack Obama or challenger Mitt Romney?

Well, there were mock elections here, as there were in Europe and the rest of the world. One poll had Obama as winner; another, Romney. For all intents and purposes, it was the global event especially in the last weeks, and was an affirmation of how the world has, indeed, become one village: we were united in the hopes and dreams of America, as well as their suspense and excitement.

Sure, one can also say that the global interest in this otherwise purely American domestic affair simply affirms the continued hold of American imperialism in the world, how this world power has, in fact, embedded its culture into our own.

Like it or not, we continue to catch a cold every time that country sneezes; why, we are even biting our nails as the campaign closed with the contest tied at 49-49, as the polls closed and the exit survey showed almost the same statistic tie. We were biting our nails and holding our breaths, cheering each time the side we favored scored something and, on the whole, acted like it was our future at stake.

Well, in fact, it was our future at stake really because come to think of it, the President determines America’s foreign policy and directions and well, we will really be affected here.

And so, like it was “Walang Hanggan” and “Marimar”, Pinoys followed the American Elections with the zeal of actual American voters, riding the political rollercoaster that it was whether they were with the elephants or with the donkeys.

I recall how interest and excitement over the election picked up in late September, after the first debates where Romney started showing how serious a challenger he was. Getting his groove, Romney gained traction and closed in on Obama, closely trailing him and closing the contest to a tie.

From there on, the very tight race refused to unravel for any of the candidates, not even the act of God that was super-storm Sandy could upset the statistical tie. Actually, so analysts said, the contest was really a tie if it was simply by popular count the way we elect our officials. In fact, if you had looked closely, the Electoral College votes were tilted slightly for Obama. The media, on the whole, refused to play this up as anything could have happened to the popular count that could have impacted on electoral votes.

But, as efficiently as it had unfolded and ran on our television screens, PCs and laptops and the front pages of our newspapers, the season’s global teleserye had come to an end, with Obama claiming four more years.

And, like a good melodrama, he had dramatic words: “In this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up. We have fought our way back. We know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come.”*

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