Washington, July 15: Two years ago, it was Electro Motive Diesel, a Chicago-based diesel locomotive manufacturer, and General Electric that US President Barack Obama was lobbying for with India. Today, it is Wal-Mart Stores Inc that the White House is pitching for.
There is much more to Obama's weekend criticism of Indian regulations on foreign direct investment than any ideological or egalitarian considerations for the promotion of free enterprise. The President, running for re-election, is unabashedly piggybacking on India's potential to do business with American conglomerates to raise money from such companies for his campaign war chest.
“In too many sectors, such as retail, India limits or prohibits the foreign investment that is necessary to create jobs in both our countries, and which is necessary for India to continue to grow,” Obama told PTI, according to a report put out today by the news agency.
The American business community, “one of the great champions of the US-India partnership… they tell us it is still too hard to invest in India,” the President complained without being overly prescriptive on how the Manmohan Singh government should deal with the country's economic slowdown.
Three weeks ago, Obama personally sent out an email to his supporters through his re-election campaign website in which he lamented: “I will be the first President in modern history to be outspent in his re-election campaign, if things continue as they have so far.”
A recent US Supreme Court decision lifting a slate of restrictions on campaign donations has come as a boon to Republicans in the coming presidential election, allowing the party's affluent supporters to loosen their purse strings in favour of Obama's opponent in November, Mitt Romney.
“I am not just talking about the super PACs (political action committees) and anonymous outside groups - I am talking about the Romney campaign itself. Those outside groups just add even more to the underlying problem. The Romney campaign raises more than we do.”
Obama has been scrambling to keep up with Romney in fund-raising, accepting donations as small as three dollars per person for his re-election and offering all kinds of gimmicks to get money from voters.
One such gimmick is to enter the names of all donors, even those who give three dollars into a lottery for a seat at a dinner hosted by President and the First Lady, Michelle Obama. Another incentive is to draw lots for donors for a seat on Obama's campaign bus when it goes to the respective areas where donors live.
“These dinners (for lottery winners) represent how we do things differently. My opponent spent this past weekend at a secretive retreat for the biggest donors to both his campaign and the super PACs that support him,” the email stated.
More than 2.2 million Americans have chipped in with small amounts for Obama as they did four years ago for his maiden campaign for the White House. But, Democrats are disheartened that Republicans are raising more money this year and most of it is coming from big corporations and their owners.
By championing the cause of multinationals and others here with a business stake in India “which continues to grow at an impressive rate” despite a slowdown in the global economy, Obama is sending out a message to America Inc that he is prepared to fight for them.
