And from fair Florida...

I have to say that I am a bit sad for the old Giuliani. He could not have made a greater mess of the primary. Who on earth was his strategist? Someone who is not going to get work as a strategist again, I suspect.
Apart from being too arrogant to go on the campaign trail and thinking that networking in Florida alone was going to win Florida, his other error, methinks, was the endless reiteration of his heroic role in 9/11. He could not understand that capitalising on 9/11 in any form at all is plain offensive to most Americans. I hear the rabid rightist commentators on Fox saying that Giuliani's failure lay in his sex life - his several marriages. Florida should be judgmental about a man who has married more than once? Florida?
Oh, Fox, you do fill the airwaves with some arrant nonsense. It is a terrible disadvantage Downunder to have only Fox as 24-hour news from the US. CNN does an Asian/Pacific service which loads it with endless Asian finance reports and Sky loads itself with sport. So, we are pretty much stuck with Fox, since we are on Rupert's cable. It is peerless in its reportage of a world crisis - but the rest of the time it pads itself with incestuous studio chat and preoccupative Clinton-bashing.

But if we are talking about wives, surely Fred Thompson would be the turnoff with his blonde bimbo wife and small child - at his age! Repulsive man in my opinion and I was glad to see the back of him in the primary.

The ranks are, indeed, thinning out.


John McCain surprises me no end with his steady growth. My encounter with him in New Hampshire was anything but impressive. I more or less wrote him off. It was a wickedly cold and wet day and it was an outdoor rally-style event in Manchester. McCain, with his blonde and young-looking wife, was very late but the old veterans waiting to support him were stoic old blokes who had been through military training and were not going to let anyone forget their self-discipline. There is a potent movement of veterans in the US. They wear clothes to identify themselves and have car numberplates identifying themselves. They expect respect for their service and they get it.
These days, they are tough old things and they are keen to have one of their own in the White House.

McCain was the least impressive speaker of all those whose events I attended. He was the only one who had a teleprompter.
He seemed old. I figured he would never last the distance of relentless campaigning. Indeed, his campaign was in terribly disarray mid-year. Low funds, staff firings. But the old soldier marched on.
He seems to have gone from strength to strength and he has even been more articulate. He is very, very conservative, more so than Goldwater was, I am told. But he is not a nut case extremist.
The voters are culling the extremists right out. They are not stupid.
It is good to see.

The last of the ratbags, and I am not counting Ron Paul among the ratbags, is Huckabee and, despite Fox promoting him on a daily basis, it seems there is not enough money among his trailer park supporters to fund a campaign competing with the big business boys. Then again, Mitt Romney has the billions and he, too, is being trounced.
The old soldier is what America trusts. A war veteran. A prisoner of war.

I am sad that John Edwards has called it a day. He had no choice. He had no chance. But, my heavens, he worked hard. The problem was that he was not saying anything different from the policy he was espousing when he campaigned in NH in 2003 - and I got to stage of thinking I'd scream if he said one more time that his father had been a mill worker.

So far as the Obama/Hillary race is going, well, it is not making me radiantly happy.
They are two stunning contenders.
My perfect solution would be Hillary as President and Barack as Vice - with him running and taking the presidency 8 years on.

But to see them sniping and to see ugly images such as those of Teddy Kennedy whispering in Obama's ear as Obama looks conspiratorially in Hillary's direction. Or the image of Barack turning his back on Hillary as she approached to shake hands...
This is not good enough.
Obama loses points again in my book.
My reservations about him grow.
And, it is no secret that I have found Hillary Clinton to be the best-equipped and most able of all the candidates.
And, so we watch the evolving fates and the wild machinations of the US media.

What a fascinating business it is.

The racism card

Credulity is taken for a long walk and refused water.
What warped interpretations are being aired by the mainstream media on the issue of Obama vs Clinton vs race?

How can they manipulate it so that, suddenly, Clinton is waving a race card?
It is not Clinton but Obama who has been using the most racially-conscious and racially-motivated identity in the world - by which, of course, I mean Oprah.

Obama has taken Oprah out on the campaign - Oprah, the massive marketing machine. Oprah, "the colour purple" of contemporary black pride. She endorses, people buy.

Obama has written two books about race - lest the entirety of the US forgets. Well, it has forgotten, obviously.

But, when it comes to the race card, the white guilt, the endless light-stepping fear of political incorrectness, turns it back on itself. Whites are guilty of racism for being white.

Why does Obama not just fess up - campaign honestly for the black vote?

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.

Oprah - turning up the race card.

In the past few weeks, I have been seething with frustration at being away from New Hampshire. It is such a critical time.
And, heavens, there has been Oprah to contend with.
On that subject, perhaps it is better I am not there. The squillionaire TV star out on the campaign trail is just too much for me. My blood boils. Who the hell does she think she is? What a complete moron is Barak Obama for taking her onboard - as if he does not have the clout or the wit or the media interest and he needs to lean on her popularity. Well, that is probably so. Whenever one comes in contact with Obama, it is a suprisingly underwhelming experience. Anticlimactic. There is no "there" there. He is bland, bland, bland.
So, yes, he needs someone to grab attention on his behalf - and he has Oprah.
The only problem with this is that Oprah turns everything into a racial issue. Suddenly the fact that Obama is black becomes more important than it was or should be.
I think Oprah has an appalling cheek to use her media popularity in this way.
I think she thinks she has the power to control the vote - she thinks she is so bloody important. Oh, what money does to people.
What I don't think is that the voting public is easily suckered - and I suspect that she may have done Obama a disservice.
From this vast distance, I do not weep.

Instead, I quietly cheer for Hillary. By default, I think that egomaniacal Oprah has done her a favour.

As for trying to pin Joe Biden down on the race issue in the last Democratic debate. Oh really. Isn't it clear that the only candidate playing a race card is pushy Oprah?
Oops. Did I call her a candidate?

Hmmm.

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.

Fred's dubious bed-fellow

How sad one isn't about Fred Thompson's lovely fundraising disaster.
Thompson is going to have to stop flying for free on his buddy's jet - because the fundraiser friend has a criminal drug-dealing history.
Oh, how the Republicans targeted Hillary when they found a shadow in a fundraiser's history.
They had better eat their niggardly words.
And, accordiong to the LA Times, this embarrassment for the hideously egocentric quasi actor candidate co-incides with his pulling rank among the candidates - putting Huckabee in his place. Huckabee has been on the rise - which is unsurprising when one considers that, among the GPO drears, he is really quite personable and able to crack a joke. Of course, he is also a born-again and a creationist, all of which should eliminate him from all running as a presidential candidate. One wishes. It remains a bone-chilling worry. But there one has George W. Bush as president - an example of all the qualities on would dread.

The Mormon is doing well, too. I read that I am not supposed to refer to Romney by his religion but, guess what? I will refer to him however I wish - and the fact that he is a mormon is the first thing that comes to mind. The only thing that comes to mind.
The super conservatives are not mormons - they tend to be fundamentalist born-again types. But they see the mormon as one of their own - and they have given him their seal of approval. Very telling.

For those of us who believe in a separation of church and state - and who positively abhor all this religious extremism, this is something of a worry.

We pin our hopes on the Dems.

Put a sock in it, Barack

Now back in Australia, there is passionate frustration at being distanced from the campaign developments - which is absolutely ironic since the Internet age keeps me right up to date with every hop and hiccup. I am "virtually" there.
And, at the moment, railing with fury at Barack Obama for taking his negative campaigning.
At first, I was rather interested in Obama - the bright, young, black candidate. I watched carefully as he established a campaign. I went out and bought his books and read him - and I was even more impressed. He is very good with the written word.
Then I went along to see and hear him in person.
And I felt hollow.
All the positive feelings just melted...dripped into little puddles of disappointment.
There was now "there" there.
Something about Barack Obama was thin and insubstantial. Something about Barack Obama was not right. I could not put my finger on it. I just accepted the old gut feeling - and it was with relief.
He was absolutely no threat to Hillary Clinton as the best Democratic candidate.
He is not ready, not right, does not have the goods...

But he has stayed in there with a loud and enthusiastic youthful supporter base.
For all those who are new to politics, he is a dream candidate.

It is a marked sign of his unreadiness, his amateurism, his unworthiness that he has now turned his campaign not policies and the priorities of the nation but to attacking Hillary.

His idea of winning the race is not to be better but to cannibalise his own kind.
He should be gunning for the very dangerous Mitt Romney, that famous Mormon. Or the rising creationist Mike Huckabee.

Hillary has responded philosophically.
She does not need to rear up and make a fuss. She has suggested that he replace the old negativity with a bit of hope. And she is just getting on with it.

Which is one reason that she shines on as the primary primary candidate.

Hills and the MySpace outreach

Never slow on the uptake, Hillary, one notes, has been campaigning brilliantly from within the ranks of youth. There are several worlds in which to sustain a profile these days. The classic hustings of the trail, the stump speeches from town to town, and then there are the "other" towns, the virtual communities which are huge, powerful and often cohesive.
Hillary has sustained a strong presence on MySpace which is virtual home to a daunting mass of brightly bubbling young people as well as much of the music industry. I am told that if you are in the music business, a MySpace page is de rigeur.
If you are trying to communicate with music consumers, with young people generally, MySpace also is de rigeur.
Hillary's team was quick to put her in there and to know how to escalate the message. Some 14703 have signed up as her friends and thus are eligible to receive postings of her blog. The blog is posted regularly - clear and coherent policies right there in your face, so to speak.
Today she talks about education, the most valuable investment the country can make.
It costs a fortune. Hillary suggests:


* Lowering the cost of college through a $3,500 tuition tax credit, enough to cover more than 50% of the cost of tuition at the average public institution for many families.
* Increasing the Pell Grant.
* Strengthening community colleges and training programs.
* Improving college graduation rates.
* Providing additional aid for people who do public service.
* Simplifying student aid.
* Providing clear information about the real cost of college well in advance to help families plan.

Meanwhile, here's to AL GORE, the first man since George Bernard Shaw to win both an Oscar and a Nobel Prize.
Perhaps the Nobel prize may make some of the American anti-environmentalist right wingers wake up, just a little bit. Or will they only think the prize is a commie conspiracy?

The Fred factor

Now Fred Thompson has had his first official exposure on the dais amid the hard-working lineup of Republican presidential candidates, the political pundits, endlessly and laboriously chewing the cud of opine, seem to have pronounced him okay.
Not great. But at least a fresh face.
If you could call that overexposed face "fresh".
In fact there is nothing fresh about Fred. He is a tedious ego.
I thought his attitude in the Republican debate was patronising. Quite frankly, he gives the impression that he thinks he is just such a star that becoming president would be a come-down.
The media questions him for laziness and commitment. Good questions.
But the public, especially in America, has an inbuilt admiration not just for successful people but for television stars. Despite the fact that he is potentially a worse president than Bush, despite the fact that his first debate was beyond lacklustre, despite the fact that he could not be bothered to exert himself in campaigning like the others and entered the race at the last possible moment...despite all, there are lots of wide-eyed fools out there who are agog with excitement about him - and he will probably fare well in the polls.

It should all make more sense.
One can only hope that common sense prevails and, in the end of the day next November, all the Republican candidates are irrelevant.

Hillary - racing like a thoroughbred

The Iowa caucuses are just a couple of months away. So is the New Hampshire primary, come to think of it. The year has been racing forth mercilessly.
I continue to admire the incredible stamina of the leading candidates in sustaining the pace required to get the message across, meet the people, raise the profile…
Hillary now is so solidly in the lead that one has to fear that the opponents’ dirty tricks campaign are around the next corner. It has been a pleasure to watch her, the thoroughbred of political candidates, pull out into first place and keep the pace up without a backward glance.
Obama, who has never missed a chance to have a snipe at Hillary, has ramped up his television advertising in a last-minute bid to catch up with Hillary. But, last month he failed to show up for a Democratic debate in Iowa. What a mistake. I am not sure what his reason was but it was a golden opportunity for Hillary to shine – and she did.
The more she is diligently and consistently out there, the more the people are realising that she has depth and experience. She is spectacularly well informed and, oh my, she is disciplined and she is strong.

I have not mentioned John Edwards for ages – because he really isn’t worth a mention. He has campaigned with great confidence and determination yet again. But he simply is not “it”. The daddy working for the mill patter now is tired and no one will forget that $400 haircut. It was the lethal misstep. That is all it takes in politics.

Obama has not made one, but there is still time. He is the Howard Dean of this primary – boosted by noisy young. But the young are flighty. I’ll take a punt that half his support base has not even registered to vote.

Hillary has had a couple of close shaves, if one is to believe the beat-ups of Fox news. But, the more solidly she leads the pack, the more respectful the detractors seem to be becoming, as if readying themselves to accept her as president.
Even the old chestnut of how “polarising” Hillary is has not been getting much ink in the media.

Ah, yes, things are looking pretty good.

Hillary's roadies

Sometimes the grass roots are positively verdant.
They line the roads.

Today Hillary's grass roots supporters, along with those of the other candidates, are converging simply to stand on the verges. They are driving and taking buses to Hanover to make an impressive rain or shine showing, waving placards, smiling and chanting her motto on the route to the latest debate.
This is not just part of the colour and theatre of the presidential primary process - but it is a demonstration of the enthusiastic commitment of the supporter base.
It is a surprisingly effective gesture, especially so far as the international media is concerned. The power of the people reflects the power of the candidate's position.


Hanover is a wonderful town - the Dartmouth university town in the north of New Hampshire. It is the place that Bill Bryson finally chose and settled in after his quest to find the perfect America town.

Doing the hard yards

It'd s game of stamina and determination as the candidates roll on towards the yet-to-be-revealed NH Primary date at year's end. They must be getting sick of the sound of their own voices. I know I am a bit tired of hearind the same things said over and over - even when I agree with the sentiments.

On Sept. 18, calling for raised capital gains taxes and tax relief aimed at elderly and middle-class Americans, Barack Obama said: "If you talk about this in polite company, sooner or later you’ll get accused of waging class warfare. As if it’s distasteful to point out that some CEO’s make more in 10 minutes than a worker makes in 10 months."

Don't hold the presses.
Those are the same words he uttered when I heard him in the Nashua Seniors Centre months ago.
No blame to Barack. Hillary is repeating herself, too, albeit that she has saved a few goodies such as the health plan details to give the media a new hook here and there.
They are all repeating themselves, except for the ghastly Fred Thompson who has yet to say anything worth repeating.

This is an epic campaign, testing the strength and staying power of all the candidates. Having seen close up the schedules they keep as they sweep through the states and the myriad fairs, garden parties, town hall meetings, rallies and campaign office visits, one comes to realise that these presidential hopefuls are doing the hard, hard yards. Astronauts have it easy by comparison.

To big for presidential boots

Oh, my, talk about the star making the late entrance.
Fred Thompson has finally declared his intention to run as a candidate in the Republican presidential primary.
Surprise it is not, since he has been campaigning for months. No, it's a big yawn.
What is surprising, however, is the aggressively bad taste of his choice of time and place.
With things coming down to the bone in Iowa, the other candidates were hammering it out in the fiestiest CNN GOP debate yet.
Fred chose to hang back from lining up on a stage with them.
Those politicians are not really his own kind.
Fred is a better kind.
He is a showbiz star. He can rub shoulders with the popular boys.
And so he chose to declare his intention to run as a candidate for president to Jay Leno.
Jay is his kind.
After all, more people would be watching the Tonight Show than the debate, surely.
I am not sure what are the ethics of this sort of manipulation of the media. Jay may think it is a bit of a scoop to have that second-rate actor making his declaration on his show but, truth is, the second-rate actor with presidential ambitions was using Jay and Jay's popularity for his own ends.
It is sleazy.
But the star has shown his hand. He has shown that he believes the voters will be more swayed by his celebrity than by the political positions of his rivals.
He patronises the public with this assumption - the assumption that they are all shallow idiots blinded by fame and oblivious to national priorities.

One can only hope that he is wrong.