Don't forget Ron Paul

If I had reservations about Michelle Obama, they are gone, blown away by the typhoon of Sarah Palin. Michelle Obama is an erudite woman and she would appear to do a good job of blending motherhood with politics. Not that she is running for anything. But she has been the subject of my criticism - as has Barack Obama.

I was underwhelmed by him when I sat in a Nashua, NH, room with him and listened to his platform. I could not find a "there" there.

That was over a year ago. Barack Obama has grown substantially while on the campaign trail. He also has aged - unlike McCain whose brow seems to have a weird Botoxy smoothness. But Obama has grown quite statesmanlike. He has kept his cool against the endless onslaughts of Fox and the GOP. He has stood tall. And he now has delivered substance to his platform. I am a hard sell, but I am won.

I've been avidly watching the evolving emotions on the campaign trails of the US and the desperate ploys of the Right to pre-empt voter fraud by going on and on about voter fraud. Bright red herrings are being dragged all over the media.

BUT...
There is another man still standing.


I note that Fox, while taking Huckabee onto staff as a personality and political commentator, has not mentioned Ron Paul - despite the fact that it is scratching for substance in its endless campaign against the wicked left and, hence, filling its airtime with talking heads talking to talking heads.


Ron Paul is still on the ballot in some places.


Wouldn't it be funny if the voters got to the the polls and discovered this surprise libertarian third option - and went for it?
As his supporters told me the first time I heard of him back in Manchester, NH when they were asserting a strong presence at a John McCain rally, Ron Paul is "the real maverick".
And now he has a running mate. Michael Peroutka
He seems to have a nice face - and he thinks the Iraq war is "ungodly".

They are no real threat - but they could provide a voting wedge to offset that monster saboteur of the Democrats, Ralph Nader.

And that is no bad thing! Onya, Ron!

Sarah Seals the Hillary vote for Obama

Comparisons between Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton are not just odious, they are downright dumb.
The only common factor between those two is gender.

Palin is one of those right wing wackos who is all for killing - huntin', shootin', fishin' and killin' things - but believes that termination of unwanted or mutation pregnancies is murder.
She is all for children being taught creationism and, predictably, is against same sex marriage.
If she has a gift, it would seem to be her massive ego. Before she discovered the joys of running for office, she was competing in beauty quests.

This is a vain and shallow Republican poster girl.

The Fox Republicans are creaming themselves.

Whatever they say, however, there is no comparison with Hillary - the intellect, the erudition, the political savvy, the compassion etc etc - and I am sure that she will make zip, zilch and nil impression on the potential vote of Hillary supporters of any kind.
The very idea is madness.

In fact, if anything, she will cement them into support for Obama.

Sidin' with Biden

Now, I know Biden has been around for decades and is a respectable Democratic senator from, uh, that corporate tax haven state of Delaware. I was keen to hear him speak when I was in New Hampshire, but his dates and whereabouts never quite worked out for me. He was on a slimmer campaign budget than some and did not tour as extensively. Not like Clinton or Obama.

So, not hearing him in the flesh, I could only join his newslist and keep an eye on him. He did not fire me up. Not like Bill Richardson.

But he seemed civilized, seasoned, intelligent enough... There is a long tradition of good Catholic men in liberal politics. I have time for them.

The main thing that impressed me about Biden and impresses me now is the silver hair and Hollywood features - he looks like someone who has come direct from Central Casting.

Perchance this makes him just right for the role.
White man for the white vote. Restrained and conventional for the middle-of-the-roaders. Photogentic for the media.
He is a fine piece of political window dressing.

Obama vividly ahead

A month back in the USA has allowed daily studying of the primary status quo as it is represented in the varied media. The first big impression has been the disappearance of Michelle Obama from the campaign spotlight. She is gone, gone, gone.
Barack Obama's profile, however, has been growing in a very positive manner. The man has groomed himself into the biggest star in this country of stars and celebrities. Obama seems to have found the zeitgeist.

He is definitely better recognised than his opponent, McCain, and he is surrounded by a buzz - that little buzz of those early appearances and parades has grown exponentially.

The media, even the rabid right, has found that it has to be rational when covering his activities. The fact that he is black gives him a certain degree of protection - for Americans crave political correctness at all times. So the media must tread lightly with Obama.

And the fact is that he looks good and sounds good and he has good organisation behind him. The media acknowledges this and, to some extent, applauds it.

I have been wishing I could have gone back to New Hampshire to get into some of the action which continues to be most politially vigorous up there. Town Hall meetings and assorted intimate appearances. McCain is there just now.

But I have been in McCain's own state - staying in the town where he and Cindy and based - Sedona, Arizona. He is not as well known as one may have imagined, though. I was chatting with a couple of Starbucks workers from Phoenix and they had no idea that he was the Republican candidate for president. Their conclusion, when this Australian told them so, was: "Well, if he is from Arizona, I guess it's "go McCain'."

The New Hampshire polls show Obama ahead.
The media mood shows Obama ahead.

And, as for the streets of San Francisco - he is shown as a head of a different sort. A psychedelic head!

Here are the buttons on sale on the streets.

Unification in Unity - a top PR job

Oh to have been back in New Hampshire for the extraordinary Unity unification of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. I would have been there like a dart of shimmering lightning - to read the mood, the faces, the nuances of this alliance. Unity turns out to be not too far from Nashua - just up the road to Hanover, out of Concord...well placed, albeit a small place. But a canny choice. The Primary State with a primary move in the Primary. A perfect piece of PR play.

My respect for Hillary soared as I watched her there on TV, gracious, generous-spirited and positive beside Obama. Accepting defeat and standing up for the larger benefit of the country is what courage and integrity are all about.

Obama also has been gracious. Well, if the words "she rocks" are really a political plaudit.
Michelle has been conspicuous by her absence - certainly on the footage being shown here in Australia on Fox. She has not been sighted on that dais. I try to imagine her state of mind but can't seem to move past my feeling that her streak of racist bitterness is too powerful for her to be happy about this turn of events. Vindication might be nearest to her response.

The Fox commentators are going to town on what a drawback Hillary brings to the Obama campaign in the form of Bill Clinton. I am just over this American hatred for Bill. I am over the whole anti-Clinton agenda which is just so full of sureness. In fact it is old fashioned poppy-lopping.

No one is going to find the perfect politician. Everyone is flawed. No president has a perfect record. It's a tough business. We seek the best thinking-on-the-feet, best informed, best-advised person for the job. It may well have been Bill Richardson.

I think Hillary's failure lies somewhere in the realm of her strategists - and a blinkered sort of limiting paranoia I observed in NH. As much as I enjoyed my foray into the campaign, I did not like the fact that some of those Hillary team workers thought that my venturing into rival meetings was in some way disloyal - when, in fact it was plain intelligent research. What the hell is wrong with people who want to be blind to their opposition?
Then there were some Hillary workers, I was told, who thought I was dangerous to have around because I am a journalist. Yeah, a journalist offering services to them! For free! A highly experienced journalist and a political animal with a lot of knowledge to share. Not all of them, I hasten to add, were so Just a thread of them who never even bothered to speak to me. Those ambitious and territorial young people looked a gift horse in the mouth. Even when I subbed their amateurish writing on the Hillary website, they were unprepared to accept professional help - and preferring to leave their errors in place.
There is a risk in having passionate, youthful devotees with closed minds throwing their weight around behind the scenes. That worried me from the outset.


I am heading back to the US tomorrow and will be keen to immerse myself in the feelings of the people. I'll be in the Southern states - a far cry from my beloved New Hampshire.
Then again, who could not love the South, eh?

And now we move our support..

And down she goes.
With elegance, eloquence and grace.

Behind her fine speech comes an unleashing of extraordinary anti-Clinton spite in the excited masses of online feedback. I have just been reading it on site after site after site. The non-Clinton supporters have no inch to give, no grace in their spirit and, as I have always maintained, they are more a product of the right wing marketing machine than they will ever know. But they are happy. For the moment. They are milking their venom glands and feeling some relief.

My heart goes out to Hillary and my concern goes out for the US and the world - for the race is just begun and, even though McCain ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer, he will prove formidable against Obama.

A chunk of me has long wished that, somehow, Bill Richardson could have stayed in the race.
Albeit he was Latino, he did not attract the media favour or the gushing cult enthusiasm of the handsome young Obama - but he was the more solid, talented, wise and able by a long shot. He was prime presidential material. He could have stood his ground against McCain.

We will have an interesting time watching how the GOP now changes its media slant on Obama. We will have an interesting time watching the ingenuous new political breed cope with it all. We will hope that, somewhere behind the sophistry, Obama has the true grit.
He certainly writes a nice book, albiet that he writes a great deal about the issue of being black. And, if he becomes president, the important factor will be that he is a black president. That fulfils his promise of "change". And, has he has just said, if perchance he wants to do something about health care, Hillary Clinton had a good policy and may be worth listening to.

As for Michelle Obama, I have yet to find hope. I can only see the most divisive woman yet to arrive in politics - protected by the racist card. The racist card says that blacks are rightful to have a hate agenda against whites but that whites are racist if they criticise blacks.
Interesting to see a book by Shelby Steele A Bound Man: Why We're Excited About Barack Obama and Why He Can't Win, rushed through to cover this issue. Noel Pearson reviewed it for Online Monthly. This is really worth a read, dealing as it does with the phenomenon of white guilt and the moral high ground African Americans perceive therein.

We have the white hate church and the white hate preacher - who has refused to step down. The Obamas say, at the 11th hour, under immense pressure, that they have left that church and its militant ideology. Huh? Who is looking at the politics of that change of, um, policy? Um, is this consistent, loyal, honest...? Didn't Obama say that Reverend Jeremiah Wright was his "mentor"?
Oh, we won't look at it now. It is not an issue in the campaign. Let it flow through to the keeper. It was always more important to dislodge Hillary.

Nonetheless, they are raving ranting religious zealots from a hate church.

My reservations about Obama are not going to go away easily. He will have a lot of proving to do for me. Michelle Obama more so.

He was the one and only Democratic candidate with whom I did not make the effort to shake hands. He was the one and only Democratic candidate from whose appearance I chose going for a coffee over staying around afterwards. I left plain disappointed with him. Hence the consistency of my stance here in the blog.

I was there in the room with him. I listened. I watched. I arrived full of hope.
At that time I had not committed to Hillary. I could just as easily have been on his team - until I sat there and listened and felt the emptiness of his rhetoric.

Now, of course, I will now do the right Democratic thing - I will support him utterly against McCain.
And pray that all my misgivings are misplaced.

A sad note

With good grace. I have dreaded the good grace.
If it were not for my reservations. If it were not for the fact that Michelle Obama's anti-white agenda worries me terribly, my good grace may be good. How ironic is it that the public has swallowed the Right's propaganda about Hillary being "divisive" and "ambitious". The Obamas are not?

The public is so malleable - which the Right knows.
It has some dirt up its sleeve about Michelle Obama. Or so the rumour mill goes.
But it needs Hillary out of the way before it destabilises the Obama camp with scuttlebut. If it came out with the dirt early, then it would throw favour back in Hillary's direction.

I don't like the Right, but I never underestimate their canny strategising. They are unpleasant but not stupid.
They have pushed Obama because, even without the dirt, he is an advantage for their McCain campaign.
And so it is all going to come to pass.

Ah, yet again, an interesting, if not cheering, time in history.

Meanwhile, my admiration for Hillary remains. She has true grit and true talent.

Shy McCain

It is a bit offputting to read that John McCain's fundraising events are closed to the press.
Why, I wonder?
What don't they want us to know?

The big thing I wish the media would "out" McCain for is his dependence on teleprompters.
I was scandalised when I saw him speak in Manchester, NH, straight from a teleprompter which had been hauled out and set up in the middle of a public park for him. Gobsmacked is probably not an understatement for my shock. I was under the impression that, especially when it came to their own stump speeches, politicians knew the script.
Hillary certainly did. Obama did. Giuliani did. Bill Richardson did...
But there was old McCain, "Mr Experience", showing that he was not au fait with his own lines.
And, I gather, not a lot has changed.
I have watched the eye movement in the crowds as he gives his addresses and, yes, they seem to be moving from specific focal points...
No spontaneity.
Indeed, spontaneity seems to be his downfall.
The YouTube clips which are the big hit of the moment prove that to be so. He does, he does not know about the economy. He does not know what he knows, it seems.
Which is why he has to read it all nicely written down.

Oh, deary me.

Obama, the un-sweetie

And another little sign emerges from Obama.
Another danger sign.

In the latest incident he called a woman journalist "sweetie" - when also refusing to answer her question. He told her that "sweetie", he would answer questions later at what he calls a "media avail". In fact he did not answer the question at all. He did no "media avail" and, apparently, he shirks them whenever he can. I will not be surprised to hear somewhere along the line from Barack and Michelle that they deem the media one of the great white evils.

Meanwhile, clearly Obama has scant respect for journalists when he can disrespect a female journalist asking a legitimate question with the patronising term of "sweetie".

Thirty years ago, men would use such demeaning familiarities to keep the little inferior women in their place. Honey, dear, love...
After the feminist revolution, only the most crass of sexist men dares to diminish women with these words.

In 2008, a man aspiring to be a world leader should know better.

He has dismissed this insult with a light-hearted response that, well, he has a bit of a bad habit with these little endearments.

No, Obama, that is not a "habit", it is an "attitude".

Hooray for Hills

Pennsylvania! Oh, blessed relief.
The 10 per cent margin between Hillary and Barack keeps Hillary in the race and allows America the time it needs to clue up.

Not that Michael Moore has clued up.
What a shock to receive his newsletter urging his fans to vote against Hillary Clinton.
But Moore, while a brave agitator and man of causes, is no political Einstein. He is a big on the naive side, I think. And in this case, he is holding a grudge against Hillary's error of judgement in voting for Iraq. He is joining the Fox-revved mindless mob who refuse to hear Hillary's oft-reiterated words "if I knew then what I know now".
Moore has never failed in prescience?
Guess what?
He is lacking prescience right now!

The man is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. So fie upon him.

Of course, Barack Obama is a fine candidate. The Democratic Party threw up a lineup of stunning candidates - Richardson, Biden, Edwards et al. Each of these men had outstanding merit. Obama does, too, although I am not so sure about his wife.

Hillary has an edge on all of the other candidates - and she has proved, with this long campaign, that she has guts and stamina on an Olympian scale.
One watches the relentlessness of the campaign and just boggles at how long and hard it is - a marathon to end all marathons. She has impressive self-discipine - which is the hard edge that the Right Wing pundits forever decry. Pity they don't have a bit more of it. Self-discipline involves self-sacrifice.

I continue to believe in Hillary Clinton and am delighted at this strong win.
I think the Democratic race needs to claw its way on simply so that the American public can overcome the Right Wing mantras about Clintons - and see this strong, courageous, well-informed and experienced woman is what the country really needs.

Fingers and toes crossed as the game moves on.

Get Hillary - its the only choice.

It is all getting rather silly - and very worrying.
I watched what we were able to see on TV of the ABC Hillary/Barack debate, topping up content with online clips. Unless one is there, it is very hard these days to get any report which is not skewed with opinion.
The big loser of the debate according to all and sundry was the ABC for its pussyfooting and puny questioning.

Now, some of the commentators are saying that the ABC's biggest fault was that it was anti-Obama and therefore pro Clinton.

We have reached a stage of this nightmarish primary in which almost anything at all is deemed anti-Obama. While Hillary is a prime target for all the bile of the right with its entrenched Clinton hate agenda, Obama is protected by that exquisite American prerequisite for political correctness.

Since all criticism of Obama can be seen as racist, there can be no criticism. It backfoots Hillary badly - and puts a compromise on the open blather of the political pundits. So, if one is going to snipe and carp and criticise and keep that old media ball rolling with beat-up controversy, the middle class white woman with her sinful husband is the only way to go.

Oh, what a Catch 22.

Staying the course

People keep asking me, in sombre tones, how I think Hillary is going. Does she still have a chance?

Heavens, yes!

Take nothing for granted in politics - or football or horseracing or, for that matter, ice skating. Let us not forget the Aussie ice skater who won gold because of the fact that he was coming last. When the whole pack of racers fell over, our boy at the back was the only one left standing and he glided in triumphant.

My thoughts on Hillary are that so long as Hillary believes in Hillary, I believe in Hillary.

From the outset, I have had an absolute certainty that she is the best possible candidate for America's next president. This strong feeling has not left me.

But, of course, one has to watch the white-anting, the endless Clinton-bashing from Fox and the virulent right wing.
There would seem to be a school for Clinton-bashing and the demeaning of liberals in the USA, so well-honed and consistent is it. I have described it as a "culture" and I see it growing in a petrie dish of snipes and sneers.
Someone should do a PhD on it - since it is a phenomenon as fascinating as it is repulsive. I goes hand-in-hand with the dumbing down of the people, I suspect.

Certainly, there is no more popular target than intelligent people - which bring Clinton and Obama right into the sightlines.

So here we are, with Fox as the only constant news source from the USA - having to endure the sneers from a clone pile of awful anchors. What a wonderful weapon they are for McCain - who can just sit back and let them do the dirty work, and even choose his Vice Presidential candidate for him. If they can make it Huckabee, they will.

As for Hillary - she has the grit, the spine, the wisdom and the sense of history to know that persistence is an essential key to achievement. Women have had to fight long and hard to get where they are today - and to get further, well, it was never going to be easy.

Hillary has said she is in there for the long haul.
Hillary has the goods. Sooner or later the delegates in all their power, will notice that tenacity, power and knowledge are highly desirable qualities in a president.

Perchance the voters will, too.

I wait in positive spirit.

Good onto Hills!

Hillary had more faith in Hillary than the rest of us. Fie upon us.
Look at these uplifting wins in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island today. Let's hope Pennsylvania is on its way.
This will make it pretty even as it goes off to the convention. A cliffhanger to the end.

I am so happy about Hillary's wins today.

Annoyingly, I have to watch coverage of it on Fox news. The Fox election coverage has been nauseating me for some time. Well, ever since I have had to watch it.
It is a disservice that Rupert Murdoch does to the USA, allowing Australia only to see 24-hour US news from Fox. CNN is shown on cable but it is a special Pacific version which is tediously dominated by business and finance. Sky is dominated by sport.
So, if one is interested in general US news, Fox is it.

Hence, we have those ugly, smug Fox anchors unctuously faking objectivity in Democratic coverage.

Beggars can't be choosers. So I watch avidly deep into the Australian night.
It is stressful.


But at least there are signs that not all of the USA is brainwashed by Fox.
The people are recognising that Hillary has the goods that the country really needs.

Michelle Obama means change all right

Michelle Obama is showing her colours. If the American public sat up and took notice rather than gushed at the idea that "change" is a political policy, they might restrain their enthusiasm for the Obama push - and perhaps save the day and turn towards Hillary Clinton.
Michelle Obama has announced that having her husband running for president has provided the first thing IN HER LIFE to make her proud of her country!
All these years she has felt no pride in her homeland?
Apparently not.
Reading biographical material about here reveals that she has operated for most of her career on a heavy black agenda. She appears to be an angry black woman, a black activist, a racist - and, indeed, if she is American's First Lady, there sure will be some "change".

Of course, if Obama goes on to keep winning, if he is the 2008 Democrat presidential candidate, one is going to see another swing in the voting. It is just what the Republicans want. The American public, given the option of a black president or a war hero president will go for the war hero.

And this is what I now predict.

Obama on the rise and rise and rise

Hillary already has been begging the country just to remember that the important thing for November is to vote Democratic. There must be change of Government. She is a wise woman and, I fear, she can see the writing on the wall.
It is not looking too good for her. She will have to pull a rabbit out of the hat - as the media keeps gnawing at her image, carrying on about botox, making ugly kerfuffles over Chelsea, sniping about Bill... making up whatever it can get away with.
It's rough.

Of course, many of the Obama simpletons who are bouncing around, high as kites on the novelty of a political experience, think that "change" is something Obama has invented.

They think that "change" is a policy!

I am very sad watching the latest Caucus figures emerging, still boggling at how utterly stupid the very essence of caucuses are. Only 2 per cent of the registered Republicans turned up at their Washington caucuses? The weather was bad? They did not bother with their political responsibility. I just hope those Republicans stay indoors again in November when the big election is on. Their political apathy will be useful then.

Meanwhile, Obama is going from strength to strength in these evolving primaries - and I see Teddy Kennedy rubbing his hands together because he will have control. I see Oprah priming up to dub herself a president-maker responsible, with her new best buddy Michelle Obama, for a bright new black agenda.
I see a lot of people around Obama, pulling strings - but I do not see a man with great depth of potential in his own right.

I never did - not from that first encounter in NH, when I went to the Seniors Centre to get up close and personal with him, to listen to him and see what he was all about. That was when my hopes melted away in a puddle of Obama rhetoric. He is a sophist. He is a sophist. There was no "there" there.
I left feeling a bit empty and disappointed.

It made the deciding factor for this old political animal. I had been to see and hear Hillary and I needed to know how Obama matched up. And there was a man with no real policy. Just fluent sophistry. That was the point at which I phoned the Hillary Campaign and offered my services.

So, of course, I think my choice is the right choice.
I think Hillary Clinton is absolutely exceptional - a very able woman with an informed grasp on almost every aspect of most ever domestic and international political issue. That is pretty rare and I'd challenge any other candidate to match her erudition.

Sadly, the common voter neither knows nor cares. Many have some media-induced idea of a Clinton agenda. They have believed what the media has told them - that she is cold and ambitious, which are taken to be evils in a woman, albeit strengths in a man.
The media wins.

The media has marketed Obama as a favoured Dem. It suits the precious youth demographic which is all the media wants to know about. His is quite a marketable commodity, of course.

Obama is really very nice in myriad ways. He is superbly fluent, like an elegant preacher. His books are fantastic. I rather fell in love with him when I read him.
He is tall and handsome.

But the very "change" business that the media has marketed and the young have embraced with such enthusiasm, is still turning me off.

Give us a break!
Elections are all about change. They are for change

What actual change is Obama promising? Just change.
His policies are more philosophic than political nitty gritty. He promises hope. Nice things. He promises to bring the cost of living down with tax breaks and to raise the minimum wage. He does not want anyone to be poor. He wants college to be affordable..so long as students work for the peace corps in return. This is their pleasant payback for tuition. Of course this is very appealing to the young.
Obama is very appealing.
The young are rapt.

Now, in the grand scheme of potential presidents, he is a pretty classy possibility. There is no doubt about that.
The Democratic candidates made a lineup of exceptional individuals. Bill Richardson, Joe Biden, John Edwards...and, of course, the brilliant Hillary Clinton.
Each one had fine potential as a president. America can be proud that it can, in fact, line up such an array of pure class.

Watching and wondering

This is a white-knuckle primary - even if one is not committed to any particular candidate. The fates seem fragile, the voters fickle, the candidates' teams allegedly coming up with some sly tricks...
There is an air of desperation, particularly from the Obama camp Not only has Oprah continued to keep pressuring for the black vote but also there are tales of some not quite kosher dealings with potential Hillary voters. Tsk tsk.
And still Hillary inches ahead.

Then on the Republican side, well, this is far more colourful than the Dems, as it turns out.
There is Mormon Mitt Romney blanketing the media with an unprecdented volume of advertising. I heard that more than 50 per cent of the ads running on television in Carolina were Mitt Romney's campaign ads. No wonder they didn't vote for him. They were offended by the overkill.


And it goes to show that you really can't buy the presidency. Mitt is the richest candidate and the one spending his own money in his desperate bid to rule the world - and it ain't paying off.

But what of Giuliani?
He was my frontrunner choice for the GOP.
What on earth is he doing skipping the other states and hanging out in Florida? That is the oddest gamble. High stakes, Rudy!
But I am sure you are working the rooms of the retirement state - just as you worked the rooms of New Hampshire.

Not that it gave you the win.
Funny old McCain scored the state. Funny old McCain is doing rather well. Surprising, really, since he did strike me as just a bit out of it. But he certainly has shown the old stamina on the campaign trail.

Sigh of relief

Bravo to Hillary.
Bravo to the campaign workers of New Hampshire - all those door-knockers and phoners, placard-holders, web reporters, ushers and organisers. I wish I had had more time there to add more of my energy to the cause. I'd love to have been there today! How rewarding.

But what a white-knuckle ride the last week has been.

The Barack phenomenon in Iowa caused me to sit down and study Barack and Michelle Obama in a way I had not done since last year when I arrived in New Hampshire. Then, I was making sure of which candidate I was going to support - and Obama was definitely the main rival to Hillary when it came to that choice. I did my homework and made my selection, just as the New Hampshire voters have now done.
And I understand how hard it was for them.

The beauty of the Primary is the quality of the candidates who are out there vying for the presidency. There are some outstanding politicians in the mix.

I decided early on that Obama did not show the political savvy and personal discipline that Hillary has. I think his "change" platform is a bit on the glib side - since the election itself is about change and each and every candidate is about change. Hearing people say that Clinton or Edwards have "stolen Obama's message of change" just makes me laugh. What on earth do they think this whole epic is for?

However, I do like Obama and admire him. He is a beautiful writer. I like some of his philosophies and I am even gaining a grudging admiration for his fiesty wife. She is a magnificent orator. Better than her husband, I dare to suggest. But I can't help but sense a racial agenda.
Interestingly, there is a touch of the Bill and Hillarys to the Obamas - a couple of high-achieving, Ivy League lawyers.
I hope they have their day. A bit later.

However, while I went out and about and checked out as many candidates as I could in among the house parties and town hall meetings of the unique New Hampshire political process, Hillary shone forth as my number one. The more interaction I had with her, the more this decision was endorsed. This woman has the goods. It has nothing to do with her being a woman as such. It is about the woman she is - a devastatingly smart, coherent, balanced, prudent, internationally sensitive and highly self-disciplined individual.
So, I am thrilled to bits at this significant victory.

The race is far from over. Far, far, far.

There will be more strategists and volunteers slaving away in South Carolina, another important Primary. And then the rest. It is a long road of many states and many votes.
Hillary is looking tired now - but she and the others are astonishing in their stamina. And whoever wins the primary goes on to campaign for the presidency and then, when they win the presidency, they leap into the arduous business of being president. Oh, my - most of us would run from the very idea of such an onerous responsibility. But there ya go. Politicians are different beasts.

The Iowa washup

Can Obama do in New Hampshire what he just did in Iowa - bring out the young voters en masse? It is what Howard Dean failed to do four years ago. He seemed feted by the young and yet they simply dematerialised when the cold night of caucus turned up.

In Obama's case, they followed through in the cold night of caucus. They put their bodies where their rally cheers had been.

I continue to harbour reservations about Obama - especially since I noted a new cadence in his voice, one taken directly from the "I have a dream" delivery of Martin Luther King. Cunning marketing ploy. Congratulations to whichever smart strategist groomed him up on that.

I would like Obama to be president in a few years, when that awful, pushy and divisive wife of his has learned a few things. We place First Ladies in power, too, you know. Michelle Obama is dangerous.
And I would like Obama to find some substance - since he is mainly sophistry.

So, why did he poll so well in Iowa? Could it be the Oprah factor? I bet she thinks so - and maybe it is so. Ah, and what a lot that would say about media power.

Talking of which, that featured appearance on the Jay Leno show, the much-publicised first show since the writers' strike, did no harm to Mike Huckabee. It was the most valuable sales pitch in the world. It made me wonder about Jay. Here we have another media celebrity throwing his weight into the electoral process. On the eve of the caucus, he provides national exposure which can only be compared to endorsement.

Huckabee did very well on Leno. Leno cunningly had all the old footage of the fat Huckabee who is now a slim Huckabee. If there is one thing Americans admire, it is a successful weight-loser. Vast amounts of television time are devoted to diet and weight loss. And Leno leaned away from the extreme right views espoused by Huckabee - moderated him nicely for the broad, mainstream audience. Intelligent design was not mentioned at all. We just got that very, very personable man. Oh my, he is a good candidate. He has a fatherly, protective, reliable, good natured facade and a lovely sense of humour. He is disarmingly attractive package.

So where was Hillary in all of this? She has the star of husband Bill shining at a discreet distance - and she looked and sounded wonderful. The pundits say she fared poorly because of her voting record in the Senate, because she was not against the war on Iraq, because she has never recanted that mistake... Gee, the negative market is tough. I don't know how many times she has to say "if she knew what she knows now she would never have voted as she did then". A zillion times is not enough. Perchance she is damned for ever on that cautionary stance which is seen and endlessly promoted by the Fox-driven anti-Clinton push as her buttering her political bread. If the Clinton campaign has made mistakes, not placing more emphasis on regaining this lost ground is at the top of the list. They have chosen to play ostrich. Wrong. They need to penetrate the dubious masses who have listened to Fox.

Hillary remains the candidate for the thinking voter, however. The thinking voter sees straight through Fox.

I was not at all unhappy to see John Edwards get some recognition in Iowa. One can only admire the utter dedication and determination of that man, the unswerving self-belief and the pure stamina in campaigning towards the presidency - again.
I like him.
I was sad Richardson fared poorly. I like him, too.
I was sorry that Biden and Dodd were presented with the writing on the wall and, wisely, stepped back. Good men, both. But there's simply not enough room for all these good men.

Romney is not a good man. I am enjoying watching this become evident. Romney and the mormon camp tried to look sweetie goody-twoshoes, happy families - until things started going against them. Then the facade came down and the dirty tricks and venom oozed out of the campaign like political pus. Romney must lose, for the sake of the USA and the world.

For all his sinister religious extremism, even Huckabee is a better choice.

Counting down, holding breath

The countdown is on. Even from this vast distance I can feel the hype in Nashua as the primary voting day approaches.
I've seen the support bases out and about in New Hampshire - the Obama crowd versus the Clinton crowd versus the Giuliani crowd.
They are different beasts. Obama would seem to have made up a vast amount of distance catching up to Clinton as the vote approaches but I still wonder, having looked over that supporter base, if they are really all viable voters. Something about them reminds me of the Howard Dean phenomenon in the last election. An ephemera of enthusiasts.

The Clinton camp has always looked stronger insofar as Hillary has a large body of older, earnest voters who are serious about issues.

Perhaps I am saying that the voters mirror the candidates.

The Giuliani mob was besuited and staid. McCain's were strongly veteran families. I did not get a chance to see a Huckabee crowd. I wonder if I could have coped with all those creationists. Perhaps it's better I missed that lot.
The Edwards and Richardson crowd were more mixed and I sensed that there were many among them just checking out the candidates. They both are impressive, as it happens.

But now the crunch comes and the wheat will be sorted from the chaff.

But perhaps not immediately. Winning in Iowa or New Hampshire may be seen as a very good sign but the race is still only partly run. There are 50 states, all with different rules and regulations in the electoral business, and they will have to have their say - right down to the conventions. Perhaps there will be hung votes.

We can only wait and see, knowing that at the grassroots level of the campaigns, those phones will be running hot, emails will be flying, door-knockers will be out - and I, sadly, will not be among them.

Australian role model

Being on the other side of the world does not distance one from the campaigns of the primary. It clarifies them - crystal with objectivity. Connectivity is all - and so the reports and newsletters keep on coming in and one checks in with the campaign office sites and sees how the keen bean volunteers are going.

And, we have had the interesting phenomenon of our own campaigns here in Australia, our equivalent, a Federal Election - which delivers the Prime Minister in the form of the leader of the elected party.

We have just scored a new Prime Minister - and a government which moves from right to left, from conservative to liberal. It is an unfortunate irony that the Australian conservatives call themselves "liberal".

The election was a landslide to the left.

It omens well for the US and Hillary Clinton. The US is the last right wing government in the English-speaking world.

Around the world, people finally are rebelling against Iraq, economic rationalism, worker exploitation, dumbed down education, inequality in health care...

And so will it be in the US.