By Ho Kwon Ping

IT IS a generally accepted truism of Asia-United States relations that a Republican president is best for Asian interests, because free trade and a strong US military presence in Asia are two cornerstones of Republican philosophy.

By that reckoning, should Asia support Mr John McCain? My answer is no, for two reasons. First, to the extent that it is in Asia's interests that America be a responsible and major, if not dominant, power in the world, Mr Barack Obama has a far better chance of restoring American credibility.

Mr Obama instinctively understands this better than Mr McCain, and if a new global financial system is to replace the Bretton Woods legacies; if Arab hostility towards America is to be defused; if Iraq and Iran are to be pragmatically resolved; if the rise of China is to be accommodated peacefully; if all these and more, which are critical to Asia's stability in a globalised world, are to occur, then Asia should clearly hope that Mr Obama becomes the next president.

Second, Mr McCain's impulsive and increasingly erratic leadership (disguised as "maverick" behaviour) will not be useful in resolving the many volatile, unsettled issues in Asia, from the two Koreas, to Sino-Japanese reconciliation, to cross- strait relations.

American presidential elections often seem, at their worst, like a hybrid between the Survivor reality TV series, American Idol and Miss Universe.

But at its best, the arduous, two-year process is a true test of endurance, temperament, integrity, and grace under pressure. The unrelenting media attention is a pretty good way of stress-testing a candidate. Mr Obama has come out of it as a man ready to lead his country. Mr McCain has shown petulance and a willingness to abandon his own deeply held values in order to win.

From the choice of Mrs Sarah Palin to the barely disguised racist insinuations, the McCain campaign has increasingly polarised an already fractured American polity. It has pandered not only to the intellectual neo-conservatives of the Bush camp, but also to the fears and prejudices of the bigoted, far-right fringe. America's recovery - on the world stage, from the worst recession in memory - calls for what former secretary of state Colin Powell rightly assessed as someone who represents "transformational and generational change". As Asia undergoes its own transformation, Mr Obama can be Asia's best partner.

The writer is the executive chairman of hospitality group Banyan Tree Holdings and chairman of the board of trustees of Singapore Management University.

This article was published in The Straits Times on Nov 1, 2008.

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