EDITORIAL – Presidential election–American style

The electoral system of the United States is simply too radical from our own system for every Juan to understand.  Nevertheless, we take to elections in the United States like they are our very own, as if we were involved.
Like our very own elections, Filipinos took sides, too, between re-electionist Barack Obama and challenger, the Republican Party’s Governor Mitt Romney.
As it turned out, Obama won another mandate in an election that was seen by the world as too close to call before Election Day.
So, what made Obama win?
No matter how close it may have seemed before the votes were counted, to the Obama camp, however, it went the way they expected it to be. They had a game plan carried out to perfection.
Obama did not look like a shoo-in to win the elections against Romney, what with the wave of disappointments over his approach to critical issues like the economy, taxes, gay marriage and status of young illegals.
As it turned out, Obama’s win was anchored on the broad support of  the moderates, women and minorities, including the Hispanic-Americans and Asian-Americans who are a growing sector in the US. There is also the so-called Millenial Generation whose radical culture supports same sex marriage. The Democrats embraced these sectors which they believed were the key to the elections. They stuck to this gameplan despite the backlash from the whites.
Simply put, Obama went with the minorities, moderates and the marginalized to win this one. In a system as unique as America’s, this election gameplan can win an election. Not in our country, though.  And that’s where the difference lies.
Despite its complexities, the message of the US elections to us is not as complex or as radical as their electoral system. America’s election went like clockwork. Systematic. Inexorable. No hitches. The media coverage was state-of-the art and the results known immediately, no hassle.  Loser Romney was gracious in defeat, urging fellow-Americans to close ranks behind winner Obama who looked at his reelection as the victory of the American people.  
The real big winner in that electoral exercise is democracy. Makes us wonder how our own 2013 mid-year elections will fare in comparison.