The U.S. Elections

[성김 대사]

During an election year, there are always people who complain that political campaigns last too long, that there are too many commercials about the candidates, or that politics are so negative.  But on Election Day, it is so nice to see it all work out.

That is why I was pleased to join my colleagues and guests at the U.S. Embassy’s 2012 Presidential Election Watch event on November 7 at the President Hotel in downtown Seoul.  

I was amazed that from the time our doors opened at 9 a.m. to the early afternoon when we closed, the place was packed with hundreds of people.  In a refreshing change, I was surprised and delighted to see so many young Koreans join us there.  In fact, they seemed even more enthusiastic than our U.S. colleagues!  It was so exciting to see U.S. democracy in action.  

 

Welcome to the 2012 Presidential Election Watch event!

The event may have been called an Election Watch, but we didn’t just watch the returns come in.  I was impressed with all the different activities that were going on throughout the rooms.  In addition to the live broadcasts of news coverage, there were panel discussions with experts from the U.S. and Korea, an unofficial straw poll, an information booth on American democracy and politics, a trivia contest about the U.S. presidential election, and photo opportunities with our real-life “Lady Liberty” and “Uncle Sam” or life-size cut-outs of Mitt Romney and President Obama.  In addition, we also created a board where you all could post questions for my “Ask the Ambassador” videos.  

One of our VIP guests told me during the event that he was so impressed with how “quintessentially American” it was.  Not to mention, we could not have picked a better venue than the President Hotel to watch the presidential election!

 

Here is a glimpse of our event!

I would like to join millions of Americans in congratulating President Obama on his re-election.  I was really struck by the quality of both Mitt Romney’s concession speech and President Barack Obama’s acceptance speech.  The speeches were just great indicators that we had two very distinguished candidates; both dedicated public servants who ran good campaigns.

 

Congratulations to President Obama on his re-election! 

With the Korean presidential election just a few weeks away, I look forward to witnessing the democratic process in action once more this year.