Sometimes people ask me who I'd vote for in the US presidential election. I always answer the same way: whoever wins will become the president.
This tends to confuse the askers rather than enlighten them. Yet, as a foreigner who is utterly unaffected by US domestic politics, it is my position. No matter who wins, they will become president, and the US foreign policy will remain unaffected. The drone killings will continue and the occupations of randomly chosen countries will go on. Guantanamo will remain open.
The institutional setup of the US is such that it doesn't really matter who's at the top. The trends and forces that eventually result in the state apparatus doing what it does are largely autonomous and uncaring. They might affect those in close proximity to a particular situation - such as, say, the person holding office - but the momentum built up by the sheer weight of institutional determinism makes the overall picture utterly predictable. No matter who this person might be, or how their new life situation suits them.
Thus, I'm not too invested in the comings and goings of the electoral shenanigans. There are only so many hours in a day, and so very many things to do in them.
But I must say that the dude that ran for president in 2008 would make a rather neat president. He said some neat things about hope and change. I wonder what happened to him.
