Dear Senator Obama, It is evident to me that your platform of change is a clarion call that America would be ill-advised to ignore. We are now at a fateful juncture in history, the future beckons to us and the time for decisions that will likely alter the world for decades to come is nigh. I will not rehash the amalgam of crises that face us today, but I am quite confident that this opening of opportunity for a global revolution, if not seized now, will not soon make itself available again.
Your oratory, Senator, may be scintillating in comparison to the 71-year-old erstwhile war hero and present day Republican hawk that you now face, although sounding more charismatic than John McCain is hardly an achievement to write home about. And while this election could potentially see a landslide of the magnitude of '64, your stirring speeches, though key, will not be the clincher. To that end, I urge you to keep these in mind:
1. Given her muscle in several key states, Senator Hillary Clinton seems an astute political choice for vice president, but her bald-faced attempt to elbow her way to the nomination might make you look workable. Don't overlook the fact that Bill comes as part of the package and will invariably push for a key Cabinet position. I would be wary of finding myself atop another Clinton administration, and having my tenure overshadowed by the duo's celebrity status.
Kathleen Sebelius, the popular Governor of Kansas, seems a wiser alternative for running mate if she can rope in the disenfranchised women's vote, which may prove pivotal.
2. While Iran's nuclear aspirations and test-firing of missiles provide serious cause for concern, an attack is not likely to halt their programme, but rather, delay it. It takes more nerve to conduct negotiations with one's adversaries than to pound the war drums in the Oval Office. While Senator McCain hasn't (as yet) called for an attack, he hasn't agreed to talks either - hardly a roadmap to reconciliation. Negotiation is the friend of peace, talk to the Iranians.
3. With the current Status of Forces Agreement in Iraq expiring soon, Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's refusal to sign any treaty allowing US armed forces on Iraqi soil, unless it includes a timetable for their withdrawal, is a resounding thump on your back. Play it to your advantage. It is difficult to see how Senator McCain's famous strategy (that troops remain for another hundred years) can be realised if the Iraqi government disapproves so wholeheartedly. And although McCain might claim better national security credentials than you, he certainly does not have a superior understanding of the ground realities in Iraq than Al Maliki.
4. Please do not stoop to turning every perceived affront into a plea for more votes or funding. That this week's cover of The New Yorker is a simple satire that ridicules right-wing suspicion of your religious heritage, is a fact that is widely understood. I find it difficult to believe that a man of your intellect would genuinely fail to appreciate the bitter sarcasm behind this. If the illustration is misread by the masses as a form of blatant discrimination, surely we shouldn't censure The New Yorker? But criticising the pieces as, "tasteless and offensive", purely for political mileage is not what we would expect from you.
5. Finally, it is imperative that you press for regulatory changes and put US environmental policy squarely on the path towards reducing the causes of global warming. McCain has long sought to portray himself as an uncommonly green Republican, but his rhetoric on the environment hasn't been harmonised with an interest in actively moving important legislation. His decision to skip voting on the Lieberman-Warner bill only strengthens that notion.
I'm sure you'll agree that there is a lot of hard work ahead before we can repair the damage that has been done by eight long years of a militarised foreign policy that has born mute witness to wanton bloodshed and given birth to countless sufferers in America and around the world.
You, Senator, are the leader who can guide humanity towards finding fitting resolutions to these crises with your refreshing mélange of wisdom and imagination that evokes magical memories of Camelot. Let's put our slumber behind us, and march towards our glory days, re-discovering ourselves and bringing opportunity to all while never losing sight of the ideals that give us strength.
All the best!
Rakesh Mani is a New York-based writer.
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