There are a lot of ways that White Teeth is connected to the presidential election. The one I find most prevalent is how Clara is portrayed a lot like Cindy McCain is. Clara marrying Archie, a white man is shown by the author as being controversial. She is shunned from her family, which parallels to the marriage of Cindy to John McCain. So much is focused on Clara in a problematic way, which is unfair because Clara is genuinely a good person. Cindy McCain had a lot of press at the beginning of the election because she was shown in a poor light because of some things in her past, even though she is also a genuinely good person. I feel like both Clara and Cindy are viewed negatively and overlooked for their good deeds and the fact that they are normal people. I feel as if both women are judged by whom they are married to rather than their personalities and the fact that they are independent women. They are both much more than just a wife or a mother.

Other prevalent similarities between White Teeth and the election are moral and ethical debates. Scientific research and their moral and ethical debates force the candidates to take a stance whether they are for or against it, as in stem cell research. In White Teeth morality is a huge part in the Iqbal family, whether it is Samad and his "to the pure, all things are pure" saying or whether it is the moral debate that each Millat and Magid face separately. 

The last very obvious point I think is made both with the 2008 election and White Teeth is race and ethnicity. White Teeth has an array of multi-cultural characters and shows how they are caught between different cultures. The Iqbals are seen as being true to their Bengali culture but then becoming torn between the British culture they live in as well. It is also apparent that Clara is a black woman married to a white man, which is a lot like Obama's background.