Their campaigns had been portrayed to be driven by conscience, and they intended to lead their countries toward realizing the dreams of their founders. Now, they are being held responsible for the hard times facing their peoples.

Although in actual fact they did not have much to do in creating the triple-disaster which exposed the unbridled greed underpinning the laissez-faire Darwinism spurred on by globalization and liberalization during the last few decades.

However, trying to solve the urgent by formulating short-term solutions has led to the perception that they had neglected the important, being driven by the industrial-military complex in one case and zombie conglomerates in the other. What does this say about the current state of democracy in the two countries?

The US mid-terms have brought into power a large number of politicians apparently driven by corporate interests. Since they have been democratically-elected they could be seen as governing with the consent of the governed.

However, has democracy actually succeeded in spawning an enlightened electorate? There are many who believe that these votes were acquired by deceit, through a misrepresentation of facts.

Obfuscation of the truth had triggered widespread fright, pushing the voters toward the Tea Party angst that their country was moving in the wrong direction under President Obama.

On top of Indonesia’s volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis confronting the people with immense hardships, Yudhoyono’s second term in many ways is being considered to be poorer than his first.

The normally adulatory foreign press has turned against him, with none other than the venerable The Economist accusing him of having feet of clay.

Although he has taken steps in the right direction, these steps are too small to make a dent in the glaring inequity, with television screens daily carrying vivid images of conspicuous consumption by the rentier class to remote villages.

Is all hope lost then? Has democracy degenerated from a hallowed calling to a hollow shell? With politicians apparently possessed by Mammon, will Wall Street continue to flourish while Main Street languishes?

Will the conglomerates keep on amassing great wealth, unperturbed by tens of millions of their Indonesian compatriots suffering immense deprivation? What could these Presidents do to deliver the promises they had made? Would sermons suffice, or should they now start flogging to exorcise the devil out of the fantasists and fundamentalists of all stripes?

Amid all these abuses of democracy by the ruling class, there are still rays of hope. The presidents should take heart from Jerry Brown, who has proven that it is possible to trump money with values.

It is time now for both presidents to reconnect with their bases, the marginalized. These are the people who have been shortchanged by liberalization and globalization. Take time to listen to all of them and with each group design policies and programs to help them improve their capabilities to transform themselves and their institutions so they are able to complete in a global world.

In Seoul, Yudhoyono should draw upon Asian wisdom and convince his colleagues that we are indeed fellow travelers on the spaceship Earth.

We need to collaborate and strike a better balance between man and nature, today and tomorrow, and finally between power and responsibility. In this respect, it is important that we recognize the right of all peoples to travel along their unique development paths, at a pace that allows the majority to benefit, as long as the human rights of their citizens are respected.

Obama could persuade the others to affect much better global governance underpinned by values, beginning with the IMF, World Bank, WTO, and the Security Council. He has every right to expect greater global responsibility from ascending countries, and set an example by not abdicating his.

Building upon the American paradigm shift in food security, he should encourage all leaders to place much greater emphasis on delivering equitable global development rather than tinkering with growth alone.

Obama should retrench gains already made and push forward. To regain trust and re-infuse hope into his base, he needs to mete out punishment to the greedy, and empower Main Street to demand accountability from Wall Street.

The crisis has brought the destruction, now it remains that Obama be creative in working toward a new normal, wherein greater transparency and accountability is demanded of all.

Yudhoyono would be well-advised to assume full responsibility for cleaning up the government, bureaucracy, political parties and predatory corporations. He should try even harder to reinvent Indonesia, turning it not into a profit-driven corporation, but a cooperative guaranteeing everyone a place in the sun – irrespective of creed or color.

He needs to serve as the president of all, playing the role of a solidarity-maker, banishing the fundamentalism undermining Indonesian unity, to reinforce the harmony Indonesia has been renowned for.

Both presidents should serve as moral compasses and ensure that democratic governance indeed delivers “betterment of life” for the people. If they continue to be driven by the common people, they need not worry about their legacies. Indonesians and Americans alike will remember them with pride and affection.

The writer is executive director of the Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia, 2004-2006.

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