The real "election" of significance and potential ramifications for the world, was the one which has just taken place in China. By comparison the US election wasn't all that important, for despite all the huffing and puffing, probably in the end, not all that much differentiated the candidates, Obama and Romney.
The New Yorker profiles the "new" #1 man in China in "China's New Chief":
"His successor is a ruddy-cheeked bear of a figure with a pomaded part to his hair, a rich radio voice, and a preference for the kind of roomy Western suits you expect on a regional sales rep. The full picture evokes Jackie Gleason more than Zhou Enlai. At rest, Xi wears a permanently placid half-smile that suggests confidence, even if his actual thoughts are unknowable at this point. Divining anything about Xi’s politics from his public persona is a mug’s game, but one thing is beyond doubt: he conveys an understanding of style that utterly eluded his predecessor, and an awareness that he will be judged more openly and mercilessly than any paramount Chinese leader before him. His citizens’ experience with technology, prosperity, and cynicism has forced him to confront a problem that is now more acute than his predecessors ever faced: he was never elected, but he must figure out a way to be liked."
The New Yorker profiles the "new" #1 man in China in "China's New Chief":
"His successor is a ruddy-cheeked bear of a figure with a pomaded part to his hair, a rich radio voice, and a preference for the kind of roomy Western suits you expect on a regional sales rep. The full picture evokes Jackie Gleason more than Zhou Enlai. At rest, Xi wears a permanently placid half-smile that suggests confidence, even if his actual thoughts are unknowable at this point. Divining anything about Xi’s politics from his public persona is a mug’s game, but one thing is beyond doubt: he conveys an understanding of style that utterly eluded his predecessor, and an awareness that he will be judged more openly and mercilessly than any paramount Chinese leader before him. His citizens’ experience with technology, prosperity, and cynicism has forced him to confront a problem that is now more acute than his predecessors ever faced: he was never elected, but he must figure out a way to be liked."
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