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P 121005Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY MUSCAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0100
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0567
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0455

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STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/PPD, NEA/PI, INR/R/MR, NEA/SA/EX/PMO 
LONDON FOR NEA WATCHER 
PARIS FOR NEA WATCHER 
FOREIGN PRESS CENTER FOR NEA WATCHER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KPAO KMDR MU
SUBJECT: OMAN REACTS TO THE U.S. ELECTIONS 
 
¶1. SUMMARY:  As the November 4 presidential election approached, on 
Election Day, and in the immediate wake of the election results 
being announced, Omanis at all levels have been remarkably focused 
on events as they unfolded.  In the media, online, and in person at 
a range of recent events, we have seen a level of engagement that 
was to some extent unexpected in its intensity and surprising in its 
frankness.  From the cheer that erupted at the Embassy's 
results-watching breakfast to the headlines since, Omanis have shown 
themselves firmly - if not always without some reservations - in the 
Obama camp.  END SUMMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
PRINT:  OBAMA "NOTHING NEW"... BUT "SAVES THE WORLD" 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶2.  Oman's seven daily newspapers (three English, four Arabic; one 
each in Arabic and English state-owned, the rest private) drew 
heavily on wire service and other international reporting during the 
campaign, with coverage increasing in the wake of August's party 
conventions.  Two papers, the "Times of Oman" (English) and 
"Al-Shabiba" (Arabic), carried content through a special arrangement 
with The New York Times News Service, with extensive coverage from 
early in 2008, which was especially useful in providing high-quality 
material in Arabic.  Editorial content in all papers, until election 
week, was minimal, with the exception of reaction to Barack Obama's 
July statements regarding the status of Jerusalem as Israel's 
capital, which prompted private Arabic paper "Al-Watan" (circulation 
42,000), for example, to decry the candidate's ties to "special 
interests" and parroting of the Israeli party line. 
 
¶3.  As Election Day approached, Oman's pundits started weighing in. 
On October 29, state daily "Oman" (circulation 38,000) questioned 
the extent of candidates' differences: 
 
"In a few days, Americans will choose their next President, even as 
they suffer real and psychological pressure resulting from the 
severe economic crisis... If there are differences between the two, 
there are [from the Arabic perspective] similarities in their 
positions." 
 
U.S. Election Day was quiet in the Sultante's press, although "Oman" 
reflected a certain continuing local doubt that much would change, 
drawing on an October 28 "Los Angeles Times" column by Jonah 
Goldberg ("Obama's not 'New'"). 
 
¶4.  In the wake of the elections, however, the tone turned 
adulatory, although few outlets went as far as the jointly owned 
"Times of Oman" and "Al-Shabiba", which headlined editorials (in 
both languages) on November 9, "Obama has saved the US and the 
world!"  Private Arabic daily "Al-Zaman"'s "Obama: The Dream of the 
World for Change" came close. 
 
On November 7, "Al-Watan" carried a "Letter to the New American 
President" that said: 
 
"Your victory was not a coincidence; it reflects the change that you 
called for in the campaign.  I, like millions of people, hope that 
the change you are calling for concentrates not only on the people 
of America, but looks to the suffering of other people around the 
world... not merely a slogan, but a real call to return peace to the 
world after eight years of turmoil." 
 
On November 9, "Al Watan" amplified this theme: 
 
"The new president has made the dream of Martin Luther King come 
true.  At the same time, the white elite transcended ethnic and 
religious affiliations and accepted a candidate from the African 
minority. This can only take place in a country of institutions and 
a political system based on equal opportunity and individual 
character... Will the new president be able to reform American 
policy and correct the serious errors committed by the current 
administration? Will he be able to realize the Palestinian dream in 
announcing their independent state with its full and fundamental 
rights? The coming days will tell." 
 
¶5.  Euphoria is tempered, however, as new concerns emerge.  On 
November 9, for example, "Al-Shabiba" called Obama's nominee for 
chief of staff "Israel's man in the White House," noting the 
president-elect's ties to supporters of Israel such as Richard 
Holbrooke. 
 
------------------------- 
ONLINE:  HOPE AND CAUTION 
------------------------- 
 
¶6.  Oman's leading online forum, Al-Sablah (www.omania2.net) posted 
 
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a survey in advance of the elections, with 80 percent of respondents 
saying they were following the campaign "on a daily basis." 
Commenters on the Obama side especially praised the candidate's 
willingness to hold talks with the Iranian leadership and the 
prospect that his election would reduce the U.S. presence in Iraq; 
McCain supporters, by contrast, said that a principal cause of their 
interest in his campaign was his stated support for continuing U.S. 
guarantees of security in Iraq and regionally.  As in print, some 
posters doubted that much would change after the election no matter 
the result, although others expressed admiration for the democratic 
process itself ("I only can applaud and admire the United States for 
its principles in giving the opportunity to its citizens regardless 
of their color or former nationality," perhaps a veiled comment on 
Oman's own relatively minor issues of integrating citizens of 
non-Arab origin).  Other fora explored similar themes, with the 
(generally less political, although also less guarded) English Sabla 
(www.englisabla.com/forum) carrying threads that ranged from "Evil 
Republicans Defeated" (a poll with which 60 percent of respondents 
agreed) to more measured comments, several of which expressed 
admiration for John McCain's record, experience, and graceful 
concession speech. 
 
¶7.  Commenters on both Arabic and English fora cautioned those with 
too-high expectations, pointing out that the democratic system that 
enabled the election of a new president also limits his power to 
enact immediate, sweeping changes.  A widely circulated 
(photoshopped) image of Obama in Omani traditional dress generated 
both amusement and some genuine identification among Omanis, many of 
whom have longstanding ties to East Africa through the Sultanate's 
former presence in Zanzibar and the surrounding area.  Post election 
comments to Emboffs have reflected the same need for the 
president-elect and USG to tamp expectations. 
 
------------------------------- 
IN PERSON:  "YOU HAVE OVERCOME" 
------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  In a series of events leading up to the elections, the 
Ambassador and Emboffs interacted with Omanis at all levels, at 
events ranging from a series of talks at local colleges and 
universities to the Embassy's results-watching open house, attended 
by some 400 guests.  The majority expressed a strong preference for 
an Obama victory, most commonly citing the break that it would mark 
with current U.S. policy as the major reason for their support. 
 
¶9.  Student audiences were consistently highly interested in the 
process itself, with averages of more than half of each audience 
(ranging from 60 to 300 students) saying they were following events 
closely.  The depth and perceptiveness of questions asked by 
students at each of the Ambassador's appearance were striking, as 
was the seriousness with which Omani students (most of whom have 
little or no direct experience with democratic processes) addressed 
the subject. 
 
¶10.  On Election Night itself, the Ambassador hosted a reception for 
participants in four previous discussion sessions, held over the 
past year, at which regional events had been debated in the context 
of the coming election.  Whatever the results of the U.S. voting, it 
was clear that this heterogeneous group of Omani students, 
businesspeople, academics, and civil society leaders were strongly 
in favor of the change promised by a Democratic administration.  In 
helping themselves to the campaign buttons on offer, for example, no 
guest chose to wear a McCain button except in tandem with an Obama 
one, with the majority preferring an Obama badge on its own. 
 
¶11.  By the morning after, when hundreds of Omani and expatriate 
guests gathered at the Embassy to watch the results come in, that 
feeling had solidified into virtual unanimity.  Cheers marked the 
announcement, at 8:00 a.m. local time, that Obama was forecast to 
prevail.  Guests congratulated Emboffs on the outcome, saying that 
it was a clear sign to the world that Americans have overcome racism 
(one guest recalling the civil rights anthem, saying "you have 
overcome, not someday, but today") as well as a promise of a "less 
unilateral" American foreign policy.  Those present were struck both 
by the grace and sincerity of the Republican concession speech and 
by the eloquence of the president-elect's remarks; when the latter 
began, the Ambassador has just begun to meet with a group of thirty 
Omani secondary-school students, who sat silent and totally engaged 
as Obama addressed the crowd in Chicago. 
 
¶12.  The election results genuinely moved many Omanis, many of whom 
felt compelled to share their views with embassy officers.  One 
Omani emotionally explained how the election proved to her the 
strength of the American democratic system and demonstrated better 
than anything its enduring value.  Another commented that only a 
system as flexible as ours could produce such change in government. 
 
MUSCAT 00000772  003 OF 003 
 
 
Reflecting on the election's significance closer to home, one Omani 
gentleman said, "If America can break with its racist past to elect 
a Black President, then we in the Middle East should be able to 
overcome our differences to bring peace to our region." 
 
------------------------ 
TRANSITION OPPORTUNITIES 
------------------------ 
 
¶13.  COMMENT:  The good feeling engendered by last week's election, 
along with the developing transition process itself, provides a 
genuine opening for new dialogue and engagement with Omani 
audiences.  Post will use the chance the changing administration 
opens up to deepen engagement with local audiences on governance and 
related issues, using the strong local interest in the new figures 
on the scene in Washington as a springboard for deeper discussion of 
and even action on issues that Omanis are only starting to consider 
in their own context.  END COMMENT. 
 
GRAPPO