~ Sukhamaya Bain
There seems to be no serious Bradley Effect. All indications are that Barack Obama will be elected the next president of the USA. The actual vote counts at 10 PM Washington time and the exit polls by the news organizations put Obama at about 200 and McCain at about 75 in terms of the all-important Electoral College counts. Obama has been projected to be the winner in the traditionally Republican Ohio. He is also leading in several states that have a history of going Republican.
Being a US citizen, I feel proud. This nation is not perfect, but far better than many nations, including where I was born (East Pakistan, changed to Bangladesh). I wish to write more later about what makes me proud to be an American.
For now, let me talk a bit about what about Obama that moves a lot of people of our subcontinent. His grass-root organization and connection certainly appeal to many Indians (I include Bangladeshis and Pakistanis in that cultural definition) who are genuinely secular and somewhat socialist. However, the Islamic fanatic and the Muslim pseudo-secular persons get a tickle with Obama's middle name. The Hindu fanatic dislikes him mostly because of his middle name. Both groups ignore the fact that Obama has been consistent in talking about fighting against the prevailing Islamic terrorism in the world. They have been ignoring the fact that Obama has been consistent in proclaiming correctly that the center of terrorism was not in Iraq, and that it was in Pakistan.
I certainly wish the Muslim and Hindu hate-mongers of our subcontinent to learn from the USA how to respect the human and citizenship rights of the minority groups in their land.