Ｅｌｅｃｔｉｏｎｓ　Ｆｒｏｍ　Ａｆａｒ

ＪＥＮＮＩＦＥＲ　ＪＥＴＴ

Packed into a Beijing cafe onNovember 5, 6,000 miles and 16hours away from the U.S. presiden-tial election, the crowd excitedlybegan counting down the seconds until WestCoast polls closed: 10, 9, 8 Earlier voter sur-veys had shown Barack Obama would winCalifornia, Oregon and Washington by widemargins. Together with the states he hadalready won, these states would give himmore than enough electoral votes. As soon asthe countdown ended, up flashed on the TVscreen: "Barack Obama Elected President."