Is it possible to really want two, completely contradictory things? Meaning, if you get one, you can't possibly get the other. And yet, you find yourself wanting both.

A couple of days ago I was sifting through the photographs of Barack Obama at a ceremony to accept his presidential nomination - or at least that's what I think it was. There have been far too many of these hand-waving, air-kissing campaigns to keep track. What caught me were the expressions on the faces of the audience - or spectators. For it was a spectacle going on up there. The US presidential election is always one.

Women were crying. Men had their hands clasped together, as though in prayer. The First Family hopefuls - man, woman and children - hugged and kissed each other on stage, waved, blew kisses, hugged and kissed some more (I have never understood how a person's credential as a loving spouse and parent can improve his/her capability as a president, but that's not part of the point right now).

Now back to the expressions. They were something similar to what you would see at a gathering of devout believers (regardless of which religion) sitting at the feet of a godman. Reverance writ large on their faces. A friend in the US said: "He's my hero." But she didn't know much about what kind of policies her hero proposes or, in other words, how (if at all) her hero proposes to make her life any better or worse. Another friend, this one in India, vowed that he would be a very good president, given that his speeches were so great. She too had no clue about what he stands for and what "change" he proposes to bring. What was even more strange, is that she had never followed any election in India with a fraction of interest she has devoted to the American one. Would they be sitting amid the spectators with folded hands and moist eyes if given a chance? Something tells me they might.

I have nothing for or against Barack Obama. I know too little about him to have an opinion. The only thing I was interested in was whether there would be a change in US foreign policy (The White House has categorically stated that there would not be any change - no matter who the president is. Now that says a lot about how much influence an US president has in his own office, doesn't it?)

What I find amazing - and scary (for the lack of a better word) - is the herd mentality of the Americans when it comes to what they think is patriotism. They will first elect George W. Bush - after having lived through the 1991 Gulf War debacle created by his father - then denounce his blunders in Aa-ee-rak, re-elect him for a second term and give him more time and money to continue with his pet project.

The devotees of the American presidential elections may point and sneer at the numerous, embarrassing failings of the Indian democracy. But are the shortcomings of one system good enough to justify the failures in another?