Hanoi - The former warden of the "Hanoi Hilton," the prison where John McCain was held as a POW during the Vietnam War, expressed his condolences Wednesday morning for his former captive's loss in the US presidential elections. Retired colonel Tran Trong Duyet said he would have liked to vote for McCain as president.
"I share in McCain's loss, and I sympathize with him very much," Duyet said. "I would like to advise him that as a senator, he should still do his part to boost relations between Vietnam and the US."
Interest in the US elections has been widespread in Vietnam. Many Vietnamese tuned to international news channels Wednesday morning to see whether the former pilot once shot down over their city would become the next US president.
Several dozen Vietnamese and over a hundred Americans turned up for an election party hosted by the US Embassy at the Hanoi Hilton - the actual hotel, that is, not Duyet's prison.
Many Vietnamese present expressed warm feelings for McCain, due to his efforts to normalize relations between Vietnam and the US in the 1990s. Some were anxious that an Obama presidency might mean protectionist trade measures that would hurt Vietnamese exports to the US, a key element of economic growth here over the past seven years.
"If Obama wins, he will make a policy of protection," said Mai Thuong, a reporter for the Vietnam Army newspaper. "It will affect economic relations between the US and the world."
But most of those in the room, Vietnamese and Americans, supported Obama.
"He's young, he's attractive, persuasive, and I think he gives a new, different image to the US," said Do Hoang An, who works for the Vietnam Competitiveness Initiative, a program funded by the US government aid organization USAID.
"To all of us, even Asians, an African-American president seemed impossible. But like my friends told me, America will surprise you."
The Obama campaign's powerful get-out-the-vote organization had a significant presence in Vietnam, and appeared to have garnered more votes in the country. There did not appear to be any corresponding effort by Republicans.
"We think there's about 50,000 Americans that live in Vietnam, and I think in Hanoi there's about 20,000," said Aaron Pervin, a volunteer organizer for Democrats Abroad Vietnam. "My field director said we probably got 60 or 70 percent of that."
While young Vietnamese were enthusiastic about Obama, older Vietnamese had favoured McCain.
War veteran Mai The Chinh, an official at the Vietnam Victims of Agent Orange Association, said a McCain presidency would have been better for Vietnam.
"If Senator McCain was elected, he would have made bold moves to boost relations between Vietnam and the US," Chinh said. "I am not sure that Obama can make bold moves towards Vietnam. We will have to wait and see."
