The bright side of the pond

The Guardian's Michael White hopes some American optimism will rub off on Britain.

I revisited some of my old haunts in the United States the other week. I don’t miss living there, though it can be pretty good if you’re not at the bottom of the heap, and probably a lot better than where you came from if you are.

But I do enjoy the experiences of America: the sheer size of the place; the inherent courtesy of most Americans most of the time; the cheap and well-appointed motel rooms – often with two double beds per room, a shower that works and excellent cotton sheets. Pity about the unwatchable TV: too many ads.

What I value most from my time in the US, though, is an infection that I caught there: optimism. As a result, I like to tell people that "I'm a pessimist by temperament, an optimist by conviction." It's the better way to travel and I owe that insight to our cousins across the pond. Yet on this visit I found myself in the unusual position of trying to comfort my hosts about the future of the great republic. "I worry about my country," confided a Republican voter to whom I spoke.

"There is a lot of bounce and energy in this place," I replied. "It’ll be alright." But will it? One old friend had gone into upmarket property development and been caught by the sub-prime housing crisis. Another had lost his pension and share options as well as his job after the internet bubble burst. Both are struggling.

By chance, both are also Democrats, and hopeful that the change of political course many Americans seem to want will be delivered by an Obama presidency. Yet it was hard not to feel they are unconvinced that the senator will beat John McCain, 72 and bad-tempered, in November – or that President Obama has yet shown that he can govern.

That caution is partly due to the inherent conservatism of Middle America. It's asking a lot for them to elect a young (47) first term senator who talks with inspirational brilliance but hasn’t done much, and is also what Americans regard as black, the son of an African father and a white American.

His is a remarkable story, even by "can do" American standards; much of it captured in a very impressive book – lately reissued in Britain – called Dreams From My Father. Is it enough? Another friend hopes so. He knows the McCain crowd well and thinks one key feature is vindictiveness. "McCain could be another Nixon," he predicts. Scary.

The weightier worry about Obama this month is that he has started to flip-flop on policy: the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq: the need to be tough on Iran. That worries some more than others; after all, it's what you do in government that matters.

Some thoughtful people are still looking for evidence that the Obama team – an outstanding, highly-disciplined campaign force which defeated the mighty Clinton machine  can 'do policy'. Others fret that the senator may lack a genuine sense of humour. He and Michelle are quite earnest.

It troubles me a little that Europeans (even British Tories) are rooting so hard and obviously for Obama – something Senator McCain might exploit against the cheese-eating surrender monkeys. And this is a double irony, as Obama may be quite tough on Europe: on trade and defence, on our over-dependence on Russian energy, he does not sympathise with our collective whingeing.

Of course, there are wider concerns than the coming election: the unstoppable rise of Asia as an economic and political force which the US has not yet properly understood, let alone accepted; their own economic mismanagement, which makes their dollar weak and their great firms vulnerable to oil-backed sovereign funds; the vast, unsustainable share of the earth’s natural resources which the American people improvidently consume.

On the radio I have just heard the Texas oilman T Boone Pickens deplore 40 years of drift over America's profligate use of oil, and suggest that the price could hit 0 a barrel during the next year. The Texan is now investing massively in wind farms; it’s a start, and I remain hopeful that they will turn it around.

The alternative is to succumb to British pessimism – as we did during the late Victorian period when Germany and the US were overtaking us and our domestic problems seemed too deep to solve. One author called us 'The Weary Titans'. It has taken us a century to become optimistic again; or, at least, I hope we have. As the economy dips and the media screams "recession" and "back to the '70s", we need to remain cheerful too.

Michael White is an assistant editor (politics) of the Guardian.