It’s now been two weeks that our intrepid Burkinabé reporter has been in the United States, following the ups and downs of the Democratic and Republican primaries leading up to the U.S. Presidential Election, which is to be held in November.

Louis Oulon, a radio journalist from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso recently had the chance to hear Democratic candidate Barack Obama speak live in person, and afterwards Louis came down with a case of Obama fever.

Here is what he had to say.

This is a gift of God for the US. He is a fantastic guy. I attended his meeting at a high school yesterday in Virginia. I realize how this guy is going crazy in the polls. He has a gift in oral speech and seems to be touching what are the issues of American daily life when he is talking about education, how life is very expensive, health insurance. He’s doing well in his campaign.

His results from this weekend are good, looking to be one of the high points that he’s looking for as far as the campaign is going.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign has always admitted that Obama is strong in places like Louisiana, Washington State, Nebraska and Maine and he was expected do well in those primaries and caucuses over the weekend
To me, this is not a surprise [they said this]. There is a kind of strategy campaign between Clinton and Obama. I mean there is an issue here. The Clinton staff are trying to say this is what is going to happen because there are many African Americans in these states, which is a way to bring race and color into the race. This is thing I am trying to understand.

In the high school [in Virginia] I saw more white people behind Obama than African Americans. It was very amazing. He looks to be a candidate who works for everybody. He always repeats that. ‘I am not a candidate for a single race.’

I was watching Larry King and he said that in California many Hispanics voted for Hillary Clinton and it is kind of projected that in Texas where there are many Latino people, they will be voting for Hillary again. But this Hispanic woman said she doesn’t think that is a good way to think. It’s not that Hispanics are having a meeting before they vote and say ‘let’s vote for Clinton or Obama.’ They have free minds and they are trying to think and choose independently.

What do you think about the state of Hillary Clinton’s campaign in light of her firing her campaign manager?
She is looking for results as far as she was seen as one of the favorites [in the primaries]. She really needs to be sure that she is winning. She is scared that she could probably be losing even though it looks for her to have the majority of super delegates. I understand that she is looking for the best strategy. I think that firing the campaign manager is not a good strategy. This time of the campaign she needs to keep quiet and give confidence to people. This is not the right signal.

Barack Obama always talks about how he will be the candidate to break the political divide in Washington. What are your thoughts on this so-called political divide?
I heard many people saying many times that he is the one that is capable to be the one to cross the border. Yesterday he said he works with McCain and he is the one that is capable to do this. He said ‘I can work with opponents and my guys.’ He’s the one that is going to negotiate with enemies. I don’t think Clinton or McCain agrees with that. He was quoting a former U.S. president, whom I can’t remember, but he said ‘You can be scared when you go and negotiate, but you shouldn’t be scared to negotiate.’ [Ed. Note: President John Kennedy said it.]

What about the Republicans?
[John] McCain didn’t do very well [over the weekend], but he is the front runner. What [Mike] Huckabee is doing is just teasing him. The most important stake for McCain is the conservative vote and undoubtedly he could not have the youth with him, so he will be focusing on the conservatives…I see that most of the conservatives that don’t look really satisfied with their candidate, John McCain. President Bush said there is no doubt that he is a conservative.

For two African journalists, it’s been nearly ten days flying coast to coast, living out of (probably very nice) hotels, attending major party debates, listening to more than their fair share of candidate stump speeches and talking to unknown number of various party hacks.

So, what have they learned? “Most people don’t understand how tricky it is to understand the political system here of delegates and popular vote and the state’s making all the rules,” said Louis Oulon from Burkina Faso. “And the fact that you have people who right now are willing to accept anything.”

So it was, Super Tuesday: 24 states in play, plus those all important delegates that so befuddled Louis. The news, as you most likely know, is that John McCain deepened his stranglehold on the Republican Party nomination. And Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton mostly traded jabs, and while Barack carried a number of states, Hillary got a big hit in California – the biggest prize of them all for Democrats – but she didn’t get a knock down.

It’s here that we announce we missed an opportunity to speak with Davison Maruziva, a print journalist, who had to catch a flight back to Zimbabwe. We thank him for his candor and insight and wish him the best of luck.

So, on to Louis, our new one-man show from Burkina Faso.

The Democrats
I am not sure it’s changed. It’s definitely still open with 25 or 27 states willing to organize their primaries and caucuses. There are only some delegates between them, so the game is not over. And I don’t know how these results from Super Tuesday will influence the rest of the states.

For Obama, I wonder if his rising popularity will still increase or will his supporters be discouraged and lay down and say ‘we are losing.’ For Clinton, this presents a good opportunity for her to win [the nomination]. Last night during the speech, Obama was looking a little unhappy, and it was like he started talking towards African Americans, which is not what he really used to do. I don’t know whether or not this will upset white people.

This all depends on [Obama’s] capacity to comeback. How will he be affected by this defeat?

I asked Louis if he thought the near deadlock in the Democratic Party would lead the campaigns to turn negative toward each other.

I don’t think so. People are sensitive to the attitudes of the campaign. When we went to Hillary Clinton’s headquarters and later heard her speak, she had a distinct way to say things, like trying to bring every group with them, they are very inclusive, trying not to focus on a type of person or a specific race.

[Every candidate] thinks they are the winner of this race. But someone has to lose, and I don’t know if [Obama] will be a good loser or a bad loser.

The Republicans
McCain is in a good position to win. Mike Huckabee did well, but I don’t think the game will be very tricky for the Republicans. McCain is ahead by such a large distance. But he does have problems. He is in a position where he has to follow the will of Americans. The will is to change. They don’t have the ears to listen to a person if the person doesn’t want to talk about change. McCain has a hard time because he’s not all talking about change. Look at Iraq. He’s talking about staying in Iraq for 100 years, just like Bush said.

One way he could do better is if we have something in the last days and the months of the campaign, near November or October. He could make a big surprise. There could be a terrorist attack, and, if so, people could start paying attention to him. Just like what happened a few years back in Spain.

What campaign issues and themes have you been reporting back to Burkina Faso?
Most people must understand that elections in my country are organized very differently. In 1997, the ruling party, the CDP, tried to run primaries for people running for parliament. It worked only for one year. It was very good because most Burkinabé liked it, but the politicians didn’t. Some [politicians] said that they were leaders [of the party], but they weren’t liked by the voters in their own cities. It was a good thing because you could politicians in their right place.

Also, I am interested in how nobody controls the political parties in the United States. There is nobody saying ‘I am the founder of this party, I am the boss, and I will decide who will run.’ If they had that here, I don’t think you’d see a guy like Barack Obama able to run.

Want a thorough assessment on the state of your country’s democracy? Send two Africans.

Through a grant handed out by the U.S. Dept. of State, two African journalists have the chance to cover up-close-and-personal the Democratic and Republic primary contests in the United States. Louis Oulon, from Burkina Faso and Davison Maruziva, from Zimbabwe, arrived in the United States in time to witness live the final televised debates for each political party before voters in 24 states, including California, will take part in party primaries. The outcomes of these races, known as Super Tuesday, will go a long way in deciding which candidates will represent his or her respective political party for America’s Presidential Election in November. (For a primer on U.S. Presidential primary system, check this.)

Viewing the Republican debate featuring Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Ron Paul and Mitt Romney, Davison, an editor of an independent weekly in Harare, Zimbabwe, noticed the candidates “were very long on rhetoric and very short on specifics.”

McCain and Romney monopolized the discussion, he said; With McCain painting himself as very strong on national security while Romney generally demonstrating his economic experience. However, prospective voters were not given specifics on how each candidate would handle a Republican agenda of creating jobs, fixing the issue of housing foreclosures and health care.

“How do you reduce these issues to [answer] how they benefit ordinary Americans?” Davison asked. “I think they were a bit fuzzy on that.”

Louis was most taken by how each Republican candidate ran away from the issue of the Iraq war. “For five years now, America has been involved in this war and the prospects are not good,” he said. “The [Republican] candidates are trying to defend this wrong war, a war that was not necessary to fight because nobody has found weapons of mass destruction. Nobody is talking about how to leave [Iraq].”

The two remaining Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, enjoy the luxury of not being part of the ruling party and thus are free to criticize the administration’s Iraq policy. However, both are missing the boat, Louis argues. “They are talking about leaving Iraq,” he said. “But we are going to leave Iraq with who? Are they going to leave the Iraqis to die?”

He says the war – which he guesses is the primary issue for 40 percent of voters – is an issue deeply felt around the world. “Ever since that war, we in Burkina Faso have been paying higher gas prices. Much higher than in the United States.”

The Reagan umbrella
Neither journalist missed the fact that Republicans tried to rally around former President Ronald Reagan. Louis talked about how each candidate shook hands with the president’s widow, Nancy Reagan, before the debate got underway. In fact, due to the unpopularity of the Bush presidency, Louis thinks the Republicans were trying to make people forget the current president by invoking Reagan’s name. “Reagan is a kind of umbrella for them,” he says. “It’s better than sitting under the umbrella of George Bush.”

Hearing such adoration for the former President was a strange moment for Louis, whose country was very closely allied to Libya when the United States in 1986 sent planes to bomb Tripoli and its outskirts. “It was like the Americans were fighting Burkinabé,” he said. However, the Republicans weren’t emphasizing Reagan’s warrior-like stature; rather, candidates invoked Reagan’s handling of the U.S. economy and development of the country.

Davison saw the Republican appeal to the Reagan Revolution as a somewhat cynical attempt to tap into the vein of American politics that is attracted to laissez faire leaders. Unlike more technocratic presidents or leaders who attempt to be very hands-on, Reagan governed with a business-as-usual approach. “[Reagan] did very well to Americans by not meddling,” Davison said.

Davison would have liked to hear the candidates talk more about how they would deal with dictators, an issue he found intriguing in the Democratic debate. “American policies with pushing African democracy have not really bore any fruit,” he said. “In the example of Kenya, they have tended to cozy up to guys like [President Mwai] Kibaki. If they were really trying to help the majority of African people, they would not do such things.”

He continues: “Look at [the U.S.] policy in Zimbabwe. What specific results are they trying to achieve with their disengagement? The boycott has helped [President Robert] Mugabe. Oh, he cannot fly to Europe or to the United States. But he is still in control. The question they must ask: How does their policy affect regular African people?”

This is what we talk about when we talk about the economy
For both reporters, the differences in Thursday night’s Democratic debate were immediately apparent. Where perhaps 30 supporters stood outside the Reagan Library on Wednesday, scores of supporters of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton animatedly demonstrated outside the Kodak Theatre, waving signs and posters. “What was most impressive to me,” Davison said. “Was these were very young people and a lot of women. If the Democrats can galvanize all these people and if it can translate to voter support, they have something going.”

With the Democratic primary is down to two candidates, Davison admitted, perhaps it is easier to energize their base of supporters.

With fewer candidates at the debate, the Democrats could talk about more substantive issues that the next administration, from whatever party, will have to confront. At a few points, the candidates sparred over quite intricate pieces of health care policy and how best to stimulate the economy.

“What impressed me,” Louis said, “was they were saying ‘We are together, yet we are different from Republicans. But at the same time I am Clinton and I am Obama.’”

Like the Republicans the night before, the Democrat debate primarily featured discussion on domestic issues. To Louis, when candidate’s talk of the economy, they are really debating the war in Iraq and Bush’s record. “The economy is broken because the Bush administration has spent most of its time fighting in Iraq and he doesn’t have time to focus on how to develop the economy.”

Where is Africa?
Another similarity with the Republican debate was the fact that neither candidate mentioned Africa. Both journalists understand their continent is an issue that doesn’t gain a lot of attention with most American voters. However, Davison did hear echoes of an African policy when Clinton criticized Obama by saying: “I don’t think the President should put the prestige of the Presidency on the line in the first year, to have meetings without preconditions with five of the worst dictators in the world.”

“Who are those five worst dictators,” Davison asked. “I would have wanted specifics.”