It’s an odd thing to say, but this column began because of a mistake. Well, not a mistake exactly, but an unforeseen event. In the November 1999 issue of the magazine, to accompany an article someone else had written about George W. Bush, I introduced six of the other candidates for president. One of the most promising, in terms of her credentials and popular appeal, was Elizabeth Dole. As I pointed out at the time, however, “Dole has the most achievements, but the least-organized campaign.”
We had some misgivings — the fact that her website could be viewed only on Macintosh computers was certainly a red flag — but we kept her in for the novelty value: she was, to my knowledge, the first major female Republican candidate. Then, just as the first copies of the magazine were reaching our readers, Dole dropped out of the race.
Fortunately, we had a website — one that worked on all operating systems. We could post an update! So I wrote one. With Dole gone, I could offer the readers another profile I’d already written — of John McCain — which had been left out of the magazine for space reasons. It was a good thing we could mention him, because only a few months later, McCain nearly defeated Bush.
Four years later, in November 2003, we thought it best to cover all bets, so I profiled all nine Democratic candidates both in the magazine and online. This led to an online series called “Election USA”, which provided analysis and commentary on relevant news as it developed. Same for the congressional election of 2006.
As the next presidential campaign was getting under way, the updates were planned from the beginning. With primary elections being held and drama and scandals unfolding, there was a lot to say. “USA ’08” had about 50 installments, which I imagined as chapters in a book. After it was all over, you could read them front to back and understand why Barack Obama was elected president.
When Bush left the White House in January 2009 and Spotlight Online was redesigned a few weeks later, this column was reborn with the title “Fascinating America”. Its focus was widened to include the thinking, the traditions and all other aspects of the way of life in this large and often puzzling country.
We’ve welcomed many new readers since then — and in order not to burden this space with too much politics, I’ve created a Special Report called “Election 2012”. When major events occur on the road to the White House, we’ll analyze them there. I’ve started us off by introducing two of the candidates: Mitt Romney and Herman Cain are both successful businessmen with an entertaining stage presence. In the coming days, you’ll see who else is after Barack Obama’s job.
As our politicians used to say, “The fate of the free world hangs in the balance!” So have a look.
