Adil Najam
Even though much of the U.S. and world media seems to have already decided who will win the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, the fact remains that the elections are determined by votes, not by polls.
Much can happen between now and Tuesday. Including the (re-)discovery that the opinion polling is not an exact science. I doubt if that will be the case, but part of me is now fed-up with the over-polling in this election.
That means that maybe we should do an ATP poll of our own :-)
As has been evidenced in other posts of this blog there are Pakistanis who strongly feel that a President Barack Obama will be be more dangerous for Pakistan than a President John McCain. 
There are also many who think the exact opposite. And as the question in the poll suggest there may also be those who feel that no matter who wins things will get worse or, maybe, will become better for Pakistan.
Without losing sight of the fact that Americans will, and should, elect the President they think is best for America, not for Pakistan – and not withstanding my own expressed view that Pakistani-Americans will also be voting this time on their own domestic policy concerns and not on Pakistan’s foreign policy preferences – one does wonder how a new administrtaion in Washington (now that there is already a new administration in Islamabad) might impact Pakistan.
So, please do tell us what you think. And why.
Beware, Pakistan. Neither McCain nor Obama will be good for you. They’re both owned by the same interests that wish to expand the Great Game in Asia and Pakistan happens to be in the way.
While no Pakistani-American voter likes Obama’s rhetoric on attacking inside Pakistan, most of them seem willing to give him a pass for other reasons unrelated to Obama’s Pakistan stance. After eight disastrous years of Bush-Cheney administration which have seen perpetual war, shredding of the US constitution and the Bill of Rights, and the recent financial crisis, Pakistani-American voters are joining forces with the mainstream voters to punish all Republicans. Even John McCain, a moderate and maverick Republican, is being tarred and feathered as another George W. Bush or Dick Cheney. While John McCain did vote for the Iraq war (as did Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden), he has been very critical of the extreme Bush policies including Americans’ surveillance, prisoner torture and the conduct of Iraq war.
I think Pakistani-Americans are making a serious mistake by choosing Obama over McCain as far as US Pakistan policy is concerned. This choice does have negative consequences that could be potentially disastrous for US and Pakistan by sparking a regional war if Obama persists in his attacking Pakistan rather than work together with Pakistanis to deal with the real terror threat carefully and patiently. A heavy handed approach will almost certainly make the situation far worse than it is already.
Over time, I have grown a disliking for overly religious people. Evangelical christians mostly support McCain, and that is one reason I will like Obama to be in charge. This might sound pretty childish, but at times I feel that people with strong religious convictions (particularly those following an Abrahamic faith) are more prone to starting wars than others. Most abrahamic religions talk about the doom and gloom when the end is near, and if you cannot dream of a better future, I find it hard to believe that you can actually work for it. You are biased against people of other faith and are prone to making the ghastly predictions of the future in to a living dreadful reality.
I am aware that my analysis is rather simplistic, but still wanted to float it around.
I think today we should have been talking about emergency and how things have changed (or not) under this “democratic” government of Pakistan. Showing solidarity with the people who are working for the rule of law and respect for constitution in Pakistan. Instead we are more interested in US election. Whoever wins in US is good or bad for USA and we should care more about what is relevant to Pakistan.
Very true AF Ahmed. This is even true today, just as Iqbal put it
Khuda nay aaj tuk uss qum ki halat nahee badhly,
na ho jis ko khial aap aapni halat kay badulnay ka.
I really don’t know what to make of these folks who voted for “No matter who wins, things will become worse for Pakistan”. Either they have nothing to do with Pakistan or they don