PHILADELPHIA– The Americans are in the thick of their own political history. Their upcoming presidential elections will be in November and it dawns upon me what an educated, well-developed democracy the US has. Admittedly, it’s a far cry from what we have, nationalism and love for the motherland aside.

What the US presidential candidates have been doing for the last 18 months is to meticulously whittle down the number of candidates from the two main parties to a single party choice up for election. I remember seeing the Democrats, possibly about seven or eight of them, vying for the nomination in fanciful debates. These were held some 12 months even before the actual elections.

At that time, Barack Obama was just a fresh face while Hillary Clinton was the favored choice. As frontrunner and wife to Bill Clinton, she was presumed to be the Democratic nominee. But she eventually did not secure the nomination and peacefully bowed out of the race by giving in to mounting party pressures in early June.

On September 4, the Republicans concluded their four-day “Grand Old Party” convention by nominating John McCain and Sarah Palin. I heard McCain’s speech and was bored at times. However, the depictions of him as a true war hero, his capture and torture in Hanoi, his father’s service as a military commander, and his grandfather’s service in WWII are very commendable and credible. At times McCain appeared shaky as he is 72 years old, but it’s easily discernible that he still wants to serve.

A surprise in the Republican Convention was the speech of vice presidential contender Sarah Palin. It was strong, firm, convincing and on attack mode. Other than describing her sweet family life, she forcefully took on Barack Obama with direct hits and carefully worded snide remarks. Despite being the attack dog of the ticket, she did not come on as ferocious at all.

Palin is a surprising pick by McCain. Unlike in the Philippines where the VP is elected, in the US the VP is simply picked by the president. Palin is a surprise because she is relatively unknown, used to be a small town mayor before winning as Alaska’s governor, and had little big government experience. Still she was chosen, arguably to make the old McCain appealing and interesting. And the Palin Effect has indeed worked wonders.

Scrutinizing McCain

McCain’s trek to his party’s nomination is a long and arduous one. He was in a field of worthy and popular candidates such as Guiliani, Thompson, Huckabee, and Romney. Showing that the US has an educated and well-developed democracy, McCain had to undergo a lot of scrutiny, vetting, debates and media controversies to get where he is now.

Part of the maturity of American democracy lies in that they have a series of important elections (or mini-elections) known as state primaries which assess each candidate’s strengths. On account of losing certain primaries, top candidates drop out such as Guiliani and Huckabee.

Last week was another example of the educated and well-developed democracy in the US. The setting this time was the Democrats’ National Convention in Denver. Michelle Obama wowed the crowds, VP Joe Biden’s speech was warmly appreciated, and Barack Obama’s speech was extremely received. On their fourth day when Obama spoke, he drew almost 40 million television viewers to hear him and filled a football stadium at the same time.

Obama’s road to the Democrat nomination was more perilous and precarious than McCain’s lighter road trip. Obama was hindered severely by Hillary Clinton’s very strong showing in the caucuses and primaries. She won many states, even the large ones like California and New York. She also constantly attacked him.

By now, despite his strength and popularity, Obama still suffers from many of the daggers thrown at him by Hillary Clinton. Sometimes, McCain just picks up these same daggers and throws them at him once more.

Lessons from the US

Because of the American system of democracy, there are basically just two contenders for the White House: McCain for the Republicans and Obama for the Democrats. This time around there’s no formidable third party such as Ross Perot in 1992. The two VP picks are not voted upon. This makes it simpler for the people to digest and makes it easier to pick, theoretically at least.

Having an educated and well-developed democracy means that principles of democracy should be adhered to at all cost and not bent at people’s convenience. It means having a series of mini-elections to whittle down the 10 candidates or so to just two, or if that is too radical, then at most three or four candidates. It means adhering to election laws, spending ceilings, advertising restrictions, and abhorrence to vote buying.

This does not mean that the US-style of democracy is perfect. The Democrats wouldn’t be calling for change and the Republicans wouldn’t be clamoring for reform if their democracy and voting processes are absolutely corruption-free and error-free.

US politics suffers from flaws such as big business domination, electoral fraud, nepotism, turncoatism, and family dynasties. Some voters are occasionally disenfranchised and unable to cast their votes. Their system is definitely not perfect.

But one thing is for sure: Filipinos and the Philippine political system can learn much from this historic 2008 US race. From the benefits of a two-party system, to genuine platforms for debates, to sticking to the issues, to the notion of self-vetting primaries, to the fundamental idea of conceding when electorally defeated, we certainly can learn a lot for the improvement of our own democracy.

The author is a US/Japan-trained and educated Philippine lawyer with a Master of Laws degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a Certificate of Business from Wharton.  Send comments to carlo.osi@gmail.com or through http://eastofturtleisland.blogspot.com/