Arsineh, a Yerevan-based designer, photographer and blogger, writes on her blog (also posted on Cilicia):

My hope continues… Samantha Power is back, not only as part of Obama's trasition team, but as part of the State Department agency review team on the president-elect's official Web site. I hope she bites Clinton's head off. Now let's get a real position on Genocide.

My next blog was interestingly enough going to be about my prediction on when the Genocide issue achieves recognition in the United States under an Obama administration. Given the inevitable appointment of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, my hope was diminishing. I started to imagine a different scenario, one that would delay proper Genocide recognition into a second term, and eventually call for recognition without proper reparations (a risky precedent… admit genocide without risk?).

[…]

Dr. Power, I salute you.

Unzipped, an England-based Armenian blog, also writes that Power is back and gives background on the Harvard professor's stance on Armenian issues.

Few weeks ago I wrote about speculations on potential return of Samantha Power to Obama’s foreign policy team. Samantha Power is a Pulitzer Prize winning author and renowned anti-genocide and human rights activist. She is pretty influential and considered as “pro-Armenian”. In February 2008, Samantha Power has taped a “powerful 5-minute video reviewing presidential hopeful Barack Obama's support for Armenian issues, and encouraging Armenian Americans to vote for him in the upcoming primaries”, as reported by the Armenian National Committee of America.

[…]

The video Unzipped is referring to is available on YouTube and was prepared by Samantha Power to gain Armenian-American support for Barack Obama during the Democratic primaries. Armenians consider Power a friend, especially when she was one of the few Americans to stand up to nationalist sentiment in Fall 2007 when it came to recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Writing in Time magazine on October 18, 2007, Power said it was in America's best interest to recognize the Armenian Genocide instead of arguing that America should not anger its ally Turkey by bringing up bitter history. While Obama was able to stay out of the controversial debate in 2007, several months after her Time article Power argued that the Illinois Senator would have the nerve to recognize the Armenian Genocide as president.

Power’s powerful YouTube message to Armenian-Americans paid off. Armenians throughout America organized in large numbers to support Barack Obama.

Back with Obama, Power has reignited hope among many Armenians. But some have wished for more. Joseph at the ArmenianGenocide forum:

Samantha Power is back on the Obama team and will be working at the State Department. This is good for Armenians, as she will give a direct challenge to Hillary Clinton { Hillary WILL betray us} and will be a honest broker in a institution where honesty and integrity is a very rare commodity. Still, would have loved to have Samantha Power as our Sec. of State.

Back in January 2008, when most pundits considered Hillary Clinton the inevitable Democratic nominee for presidency, Fourth World Eye posted a statement by the Center for World Indigenous Studies:

US Senator Barack Obama is a student of political science, international relations and American law. He is a leading candidate for the presidency of the United States of America and he is the son of Barack Obama, Sr., of the Luo tribe in western Kenya. What will President Obama’s American Indian Policy be when he announces it in the Fall of 2009? What will President Obama’s policy be toward other Fourth World nations in the world…including those presently being shot and bombed in Iraq, Iran, Colombia, the Philippines and in Indonesia? In less than a year we will know how a Luo President of the United States handles nations in the Fourth World.

[…]

A Luo may well become the President of the United States. He will have a special duty to the world to bring clarity and focus to US Indian Policy and its Fourth World policies elsewhere in the world. The world deserves a president who will recognize the powerful realities in small places that affect peace and security for us all.

A few days after Barack Obama’s victory, indigenous communities around the world are celebrating hope. Songlines posts news about Australian indigenous leader Patrick Dodson who, encouraged by Obama’s victory, has “called on young Aborigines to participate in government strategies aimed at bringing more indigenous people into the nation’s workforce.”

Some Australian activists for indigenous rights are already adopting the slogan of “Yes we can:”

We can do it! We can make a difference. Professor Fiona Stanley told Fran Kelly on Radio National’s Breakfast that she plans to end the annual Hawke lecture she is giving tonight at the Adelaide Town Hall, with Obama’s words of hope, “We can! We can! Yes, we can!” Former Australian of the Year, Founding Director of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and Professor in the School of Paediatrics and Child Health in WA, Fiona Stanley will give the address she has titled “The Greatest Injustice: Why we have failed to improve the health of Aboriginal people”.

An indigenous blogger from Canada writes:

American Indian voters, especially those who support Obama, should seize their right to vote like never before and embrace political participation as a new ethic. I am certain that First Nation voters will make a noticeable difference in the future both in the United States and Canada. I am confident that the election of Barack Obama as the next President of the United States will change how minorities are viewed around the world. Way to go BARACK!

Canadian indigenous leader Patrick Brazeau is also encouraged. Blogging at Phantom Observer, he asks:

Now that Americans have voted for Barack Obama, can we ever expect that an Aboriginal person will be elected as Prime Minister of Canada? If so, how long will it take and if not, why not? Americans did it, why can't we?

One country, Bolivia, has already made the precedent. According to one blog:

“Evo Morales… called Obama's election ‘historic.' As Bolivia's first indigenous President, Evo Morales knows a thing or two about historic elections….”

An indigenous blogger from New Zealand reports:

A Maori with a long family association with the American civil rights movement says Barack Obama is an inspiration to indigenous people around the world.

Willie Jackson who has visited the US many times and met with civil rights leaders says Obama's election is being celebrated across Maoridom.

He says it could be an ins[p]iration fo other ind[i]genous leadership to come through [a]round the world.

While many are writing about their unprecedented hope, others are writing directly to Obama. The National organization of Indigenous Peoples of Colombia, according to a blog post, is mailing a letter to Obama urging for fair, not free trade and asking him about his position on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

In 2007, after more than a decade of indigenous activism for this particular document, the United Nations passed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Only four countries voted against the Declaration: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States.

But within a year after voting against the Declaration, both Australia and Canada apologized to their indigenous peoples for forced assimilation. In June of 2008, Japan joined the momentum by recognizing the Ainu community as an indigenous group. Many wondered if the Unites States would be next.

While Native Americans are United States citizens, they are also considered part of the Fourth World – the Earth’s often invisible indigenous peoples who are concerned with issues of health, environment, and preserving their traditional ways of life. In a way, Native Americans don’t have much voice in the United States. That’s largely because the “one person, one vote” form of democracy doesn’t always adequately reflect the ideas of the aboriginal people who didn’t really give consent to become part of the United States. But in 2008, Native America seems excited about the US elections more than ever.

Turtle Talk, writing hours before the US elections polls closed, praised two indigenous activists:

I could not let this election pass without a word on two good friends and the jobs they have done over the past two years. Wizipan Garriott (Sicangu Lakota) and Nicole Willis (Cayuse, Yakama, Nez Perce, Oglala Lakota) have been heading up Barack Obama’s Native Vote Operation since 2006. They have traveled the country and worked countless hours to turn out Native voters for Senator Obama’s campaign. They were with Senator Obama long before his victory was a sure thing - way back in 2006 when Hilary Clinton was still the “inevitable” Democratic Nominee. Their efforts have helped Barack Obama generate unprecedented enthusiasm in Indian Country for the Presidential race, and just may make the difference in several key states. Regardless of the outcome of today’s election, Wizi and Nicole deserve great applause (and rest) for their efforts. Miigwetch!

Encouraged by the Obama victory, another Native American blogger asked young members of the community to think about the next American Indian president:

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would be proud today: November 5th, 2008. The country elected it’s first black American yesterday. Our nation took a giant step in its history. This left me with a big question, though: Where are our “First American” candidates? Where is our “First American” President?

This is a direct challenge to our Native American youth: Stand up. Start today. Become involved in our nation’s political process on all levels. The election of Mr. Obama proves that ”ANYTHING” is now possible in this Nation. Let this be a message -a call- to our native youth, proof that “they too can be whatever they strive to be.” I want this to stand as a direct challenge to each of them, to rise up and find the true warrior - the leader within them! Step up and have an impact on this nation.

To our young, bright Native American women: perhaps the next President should be a Native American woman! But whether it is one of our young men or women, as “First Americans” we need to rise up. In elections past, Native Americans have been brought to the White House“to bless ceremonies, to dance… to perform” for sitting or newly elected Presidents. How about we put a “First American” in office and “bring in our own entertainment?”

Indigenous politics Professor Glenn Morris (Shawnee) is exited too, but he is also cautious. In my Blogian, I interview the director of the Fourth World Center for the Study of Indigenous Law and Politics at University of Colorado Denver.

Morris says he is happy that he has been proven wrong about his prediction that racism wouldn’t let Obama get elected. He’s worried, though, about false perception of overcoming racism.

The professor says that there are different Indian voices in the elections. But the Navajo nation, explains Morris, had a role in delivering Mexico (and almost Arizona) for Obama. And while the restless activist says he’s excited about Obama’s idea to have a presidential adviser on Native American issues, he hopes that “Native participation will translate into policy.” In Canada, for instance, the federal government often makes decisions affecting aboriginal communities by consulting with the First Nations. Morris thinks that consent, not consultation, should be the level of such communication.

Was the Native vote numerically or symbolically important for Barack Obama? Morris says Obama’s outreach to Americans Indians was “partly personal, partly ideological, and partly tactical.”

Obama “may not understand [Native American issues] entirely,” says Glenn Morris, but America’s 44th president seems the only leader so far “who may kind of get it.”

According to triBaLOG, over 80% of Native American voters have cast their vote for Obama. Even a life-long Republican indigenous leader (and a friend of McCain) voted for Obama. In the words of W. “Ron” Allen:

For the past 30 years, I have had the privilege to serve as the Tribal Chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, and for the past 25, I have served as their Executive Director. I have been committed to several of our national and regional organizations and over the years it has been by honor to serve as President and as Treasurer for the National Congress of American Indians.

Throughout all of this, I have been a member of the Republican Party. I was honored to serve as a member of John McCain's advisory committee for Native American issues. While I remain a personal friend to John McCain, my commitment to Indian Country must guide my actions.

As a result, I will not be voting for my party's nominee on November 4th. I have engaged in a great deal of heartfelt deliberation with respect to who would be the best leader for our nation including their platforms, campaigns, position statements and commitments. I have decided to endorse Sen. Barack Obama. I believe he does represent true, sincere and positive change for Indian Country.

I have informed the McCain campaign of my decision. I strongly believe that Sen. Obama has shown leadership and foresight on issues impacting tribal communities and an unprecedented commitment to working with tribal nations. It is truly rare that a candidate comes along who shuns the status quo and is dedicated to fundamentally changing federal Indian law and policy for the betterment of tribal communities. Sen. Obama is that candidate.

[…]

Obama's election has also given hope to Leonard Peltier, an imprisoned American Indian activist. Writing to his supporters in a letter posted on several blogs, Peltier said:

Last night a change in this country took place that not too long ago many people said would never happen. An African-American was elected to the White House and by a major landslide, which gives him a mandate by the public to fulfill his promises. This landslide indicates the people have placed their hope with this man they call their president for a change in this country.

[…]

…I am now 64 years old and coming up on my 33 year of being confined and fighting for justice and my freedom, Obama may be my last chance at securing my freedom.

Hope has elected Awe Kooda Bilaxpak Kuuxshish the 44th president of the United States of America. That's Barack Obama's adopted Crow nation name that means “One Who Helps People Throughout the Land.” Will Obama become the first American Indian president and a leader of the indigenous world?

Hours before America votes, many Russian-language bloggers are making predictions about the US race. While most posts are short and, often, sweet, some are still arguing for or against the candidates.

Tyoma-Cat, after criticizing conservative arguments for John McCain, says he would still vote for the Republican candidate. The blog says McCain is not a good choice, but that Democratic nominee Barack Obama is a bad one.

While Tyoma-Cat doesn’t specify distrust for Obama, Sentjao says he is scared with the idea that the Illinois senator will pull out of Iraq:

Раз уж Америка ввязалась в эту войну, даже если это решение было ошибкой, вывод войск без достижения явной победы был бы страшной трагедией для Ближнего Востока, для всего мира и для Америки.

То, что Барак Обама может стать американским президентом - это очень страшно.

Many more active Russian bloggers, though, seem to support Obama, and everyone has their own reason. Olyapka keeps it short:

Я за Обаму :)) он молодой и симпатичный :))

I am for Obama. He is young and handsome

Balberov has even a shorter entry. His post is titled “My choice,” and the body is one word – “Obama.”

Radioman07 says he has made a bet with a driver at his work. The blogger thinks Obama will win, and has risked 500 Russian rubles (about US $18) for his guess.

Beat-9, in a comment on manonegro, says that he has witnessed some international support for Obama in Moscow.

вчера беседовал с дипломатами из посольства Индии в Москве.. про США тоже говорили.. Они говорят, что будут рады, если Обама победит..
А я вот всё же думаю: насколько белое население Штатов захочет, чтобы ими правил чернокожий..?

Узох кажется писал о каком-то эффекте, когда выбрали другого кандидата просто потому, что он белый..

я на самом деле тоже за Обаму.. А то уж очень тупой союз получается Маккейн-Пэйлин..

Yesterday I talked to diplomats from the Indian Embassy in Moscow… [We] also discussed the US. They [the Indian diplomats] say that they will be happy if Obama wins.

And I am still thinking: how much will the States’ white population want a black man to rule them?

Uzogh [a Russian-language Armenian blogger] wrote about some kind of an effect [referring to the Bradley effect] that another candidate was chosen just because of being white.

In reality, I am also for Obama. Otherwise, the McCain-Palin ticket becomes a very stupid one.

While most Armenian-Americans live in Democratic strong-holds like California and the East Coast, there are some in battleground states. In my Blogian, I write that there are approximately 3,000 registered ethnic Armenian voters in the swing state of Colorado. The state has 9 electoral votes – enough to make a difference if the election turns to be close. But there are, perhaps, as many Armenians in Colorado who are not citizens yet. I mention in Blogian that my mother, proportionally speaking, is a top Obama donor. She makes very little money working very hard and going to school at the same time, but she wants to invest in the process. As a green card holder, she cannot vote at this time.

Capitalizing on the Armenian-Americans, The Armenian Economist raises the question that maybe there is no “Bradley,” but an “Armenian” effect in US elections, at least in the 1982 California race:

The Bradley effect is a proposition advanced to explain the “discrepancy” between opinion polls and the outcome of California's gubernatorial elections in 1982. Tom Bradley, an African-American, lost the race to George Deukmejian, an Armenian American, despite being ahead in some polls. The story here is that some voters may have told pollsters that they will vote for the black candidate, but on election day, in the privacy of the voting booth, voted for his “white” opponent.

The blog further argues that the 1982 wasn’t that black and white:

As Armenians we may see things a bit differently, and that the Bradley effect may take on a totally different meaning. Indeed, the 1982 race was between a non-white man and a white man who belonged to an ethnic group that once was legally considered non-white in the US. It was not until Halladjian vs. the United States on December 24, 1909, that Armenians were classified as white and eligible for citizenship. However, varying judicial interpretations remained an obstacle for many would be citizens. Indeed, the United States government challenged the citizenship of one Tatos Cartozian in 1924. The government's prosecuting attorney argued that “It is the contention of the government that it makes no difference whether a man is a Caucasian or not or what the racial and language history of his people may be if the man on the street does not recognize him as white.” The case was dismissed in favor of Cartozian.

Now, in 2008, most Armenian groups are mobilizing behind Barack Obama. There is an Armenians for Obama blog registered on the official Obama site. While the Blog only has 179 members, its Facebook version has over 2,800 subscribers. The majority of the Facebook group members are U.S. citizens, but there is a number of Armenians from around the world. And one of the admins of the group, Aram Hamparian (who is Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America), sometimes updates his Facebook status by rhetorically asking “for an Armenian American argument in support of the McCain-Palin ticket.”

Caucasus Pictures gives voice to the overwhelming Armenian support for Obama. It cites news sources quoting Obama on the issue of the Armenian extermination as saying, “The Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence. The facts are undeniable.”

While there is no “Armenians for McCain” group on Facebook, there is the inactive website of Republican Armenians - www.nora-dc.org.

But even supporters of Obama are cautious.

Ditord, an Armenia-based blogger, posted news that Turkey’s president has sent two officials to the United States to talk to both Obama and McCain campaigns. According to the post, the topic of the Armenian Genocide will be on discussion.

Obama’s support on Armenian issues is spelled on the ArmeniansforObama website, and even as a conservative US site has written about “McCain’s Armenia Problem,” there are Armenians outside the United States who support Obama over McCain not based on the candidates' stance on Armenian issues.

A London based Armenian professor, Hovhanness Israel Pilikian, writes in his “The Dusk of McCain versus the Dawn of Obama” on Keghart:

The first and last words John McCain spoke at his Convention included “fight”, and in between he used the word over 30 times … Who did he remind me of? No other than mad Hitler, who was obsessed with the verb kämpfen – the exact translation in German – even included in the title of his blood-soaked book Mein Kampf – translated as My Struggles – it should be My Fights, in McCain-speak.
John McCain’s CV declaimed endlessly by a bulky Hollywood Senator Thompson (?) sounded (to our European mind-set) like a tale told for the private pleasure of a Sadomasochist Mac-brigade in a porno movie-house … and to the great credit of the Republican Convention participants, they looked bored to death!

[…]

The reason I am hopeful that America shall wake up and claim Senator Obama as President, is because in my own life-experience, there seems to be an ultimate Force of the Good – and I have experienced it not as a religious person, but as an Agnostic (and a ‘methodological atheist’ being a social scientist) – when all is said and done, and the worst evil is survived, the Good somehow emerges and saves the day=life from the clutches of total evil=untimely-death, very much symbolized by the metaphorical depths of the Old Testament Book of Job.
It is what makes me confident to prophesy that Senator Obama shall win the day to bring about a new American dawn, and send Senator McCain with his Bushist lies packing into the dusk, and dustbin of history.

The unconventional professor even finds prophecy in Obama’s name:

Young men, like Senator Obama, and wise men like Joe Biden live for the future and build it with their own hands. People grow into their names – and Obama’s first name, Barack, derives from a triune Semitic root [B-r-ck] meaning God’s Blessings [berachot/barackat] – exactly what America needs more than ever.

Interestingly, as a reader of my Blogian writes, “Barakat” is sometimes used in Armenia.

The word Barakat is not Armenian (I think it’s used by Arabs, Turks, and Persians), but we sometimes use it in Armenia for “good luck” or “blessing.” Maybe Obama will bring good luck to the United States, Armenia and the world?

UPDATE: The Stiletto has just published a post titled, “As The Armenian Vote Goes, So Goes The Nation?”.