POV of Politics

Wonder how our never ending presidential campaigns play out in foreign lands? Here is a bit from the article in Dawn, Pakistan's largest English language newspaper, about the selection of Joe Biden as Obama's VP. Notice the subtle shades of difference in what the writer thinks is important from what an American news writer might say:

Masood Haider adds from New York: Sen. Biden is an outspoken critic of the Bush administration’s policy of extending support to military regime in Pakistan under former president Pervez Musharraf. Recently, he had cautioned the Bush administration against taking any steps that could be interpreted as propping up the former army chief.

Biden is spearheading a piece of legislation for tripling Pakistan’s economic assistance to $15 billion payable in 10 years. He is known as one of the foremost supporters of democratic forces in Pakistan.

“The political future of (former) president Musharraf is a matter to be decided by the Pakistani people, through normal constitutional channels. Washington should not do anything that appears as thwarting their will,” Biden has said.

In recent years, Biden has twice travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan and to Iraq eight times.

And it concludes:

In 2006, he said: “In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I’m not joking.”

During his bid for the nomination last year, Biden criticised Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton. “Both Hillary and Barack didn’t get it right,” Biden said, when they had their “little spat” on whether a president could order a unilateral attack on terrorists in Pakistan or Afghanistan.

And he criticised Obama and former Sen. John Edwards for “playing the populism card, the idea that rich are bad, poor are good, the nobility of America lies in the poor. I think that’s a losing general election argument; I think it’s a losing argument, period.” He argued: “The rich are as patriotic as the poor, if you ask of them.”

I wonder how big the Pakistani/American vote is here.