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mccain

Okay, admitedly i'm an undesirable alien (according to Lou Dobbs, despite being a technically qualified victim of the brain drain...) so i can't vote, however I have been a supporter of Barack Obama since before he was taken seriously over Hilary.

I can remember sitting in my room back in England, a few months before coming to the states reading about the election. I assumed it would be a Hilary dominated affair that she would win (and i would support her as much as a non-voter could do), when reading through some of the analysis (remebering this was back in early 2007) that there was a faint possibility that a mostly unknown junior senator from Illinois might be a democratic contender, although he had not announced any intentions. I remeber looking at his wikipedia page and thought about how unlikely it would be that he would even intend to run this time, let alone have any kind of chance. He looked young and idealistic, and even from a single photo he certainly had a certain charisma.

Once i came to America i felt as though my worst fears were realised... this was a country that while having a lot of free thinking compassionate people, there were a lot of self serving sociopaths. Meeting the first person who told me he didn't think poor people should get healthcare (particularly if he had to help pay for it) was an eye opener.

However as my initial shock wore off, and i realised that there was a majority of people who had a heart, and a brain (a lot of people just are taught not to use it). Then came the primary debates, and while i was impressed by all the candidates, the clear winner to me in every one of the debates was Barack Obama. I was honestly surprised that the Primaries were not over sooner, but i think it took a while for people to get to know him, and so Hilary Clinton seemed the safer choice.

I'm sure many were torn, i remeber a political cartoon of a figure representing the democratic party trying to tear itself apart because of its equal support for an african-american and a woman candidate...

However after a long and bloody primary campaign, the two very capable nominees shook hands and agreed to work towards a Obama run whitehouse, with a few mutterings from the Hilary Supporters for McCain (If you supported Hilary's policies, how could you support McCain...).

I have to say two things annoyed me a great deal about the primary campaigns, which to a certain extent were brought up in the main campaign.

The first was the guns and religion comment, which to me was very insightful, admitedly it wasn't the most tactful delivery, but its the truth about many in the rust belt states... its the reason there is a large NRA and conservative christian voting block in this country outside the bible belt...I felt while it came out as patronising, more people should have come out and supported Obama over this issue. That said, this isn't the UK, and the voting public can be very fragile about being criticised.

The second was the Jeremiah Wright affair, and i had 2 issues with this, firstly i listened to the "hate speech" and didn't even raise an eyebrow. It was a fairly mild if inelligent critique of American domestic and foreign policy, that is very common in the UK. Personally i would worry about the sanity and intelligence of anyone who cannot critically assess their own country's history...

My main contribution to all the campaigning was on sunday i got to call up people in Philledelphia to ask them very nicely to vote for Obama and whether they would like a lift to the polling booth... most people said no thanks, it was just downstairs... lucky students :P

However finally after all the mudslinging and political wrangling (and one major Obama betrayal over FISA... but then again nobody's perfect), we come to election day.

While it doesn't look like the requisite 61 senate seats were won, a new Lieberman proof majority is now in effect as well as significant gains in the house.

Which all pales compared to... at least 349 electoral votes for obama out of 538, which combined with a popular vote split of 52% to 47% (big in American politics) counts as one huge landslide.....

After it became clear, John McCain, got up on stage, and gave what i have to say was one of the finest concession speeches i have ever seen, and i was sad that i had not seen more of this side of McCain during the election, i still wouldn't have voted for him, but i might still have some respect for him.

Then President Elect Obama came on his stage and with a great deal of humility gave a speech about the days ahead and how difficult they will be, and how we all need to work together to help get this country back on its feet, and while i'm not American, and never will be in many ways (I'm a british girl, even if i don't like pg tips), i felt a great deal of hope and pride for this country that i happen to live in for the moment, and i have to thank both the people who did a huge ammount of effort, and the man who inspired it...

President Elect Obama, thank you, and please make this a country the rest of the world can feel inspired by again :)

For pure cheese factor...
"YES WE CAN!"

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Watching Meet the Press, i'm thinking its is pathetic. What is wrong with being tough and sticking to your guns with questions. In Britain our press knows not give politicans a break and when they are talking crap, calling them on it, even if they agree with the overall policies and like the politicians...

It seems like the Meet the Press team seems to have their BS detectors removed before starting worked.

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I'm thinking about donating some of my hard earned cash to Obama's political campaign.

I should say that while he is not perfect, i think he's going to be amazing for the USA and i look forward to a kinder, wiser and more noble administration than has been seen in a generation or 2.

However the english in me feels rather sad and let down by the idea that despite this amazing and inspired leader, he might loose because of political slandering by a trumped up excuse of a human being who fails at standing up for anything he believes in just to get elected. The budget of a state senatorial campaign would probably dwarf the election costs of an entire british political party....

In the UK i know Obama would win, it might take the length of one of his speeches, but his intelligence, principles, charisma and wisdom would bring him straight to number ten with a landslide.

Should i be pragmatic (The system is flawed, but i can help Obama winning with donations), or should i be principled (Obama should win on his own merits, not on how much advertising capital he can raise)?

I have to say i'm leaning towards the pragmatic... but i'm curious as to what people think?

P.S. If McCain wins, i'm planning to retreat back to the UK, provided you pay for a large bag in the hold you are welcome to come back with me (My parents have been requested to clear out the spare room for political refugees...)

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For my American readers, you may not know about Mock the Week, its a BBC satirical show about the week's news, and nobody is safe (except Obama, who they described in terms of the second coming), and their favorite punching bag this week... John McCain.

The topics of attack included

• Apparently the best person the republicans could come up with was someone who was considered less competant than Bush


• Getting shot down 5 times and sent to a prisoner of war camp doesn't make you a war hero, it just makes you a really rubbish pilot


• Apparently due to his torture he can't raise his hands above his head... i hadn't heard this one before, but it was made heavy use of


• His age and general likelyhood of dying of natural causes were also up for ridicule

Personally i do normally enjoy Mock the Week, and some of their points were valid, but the general level of jokes were pretty pathetic, and some in bad taste. That said, McCain deserves a thorough satirical roasting, this was a pale attempt at it.

Still if McCain gets elected, i can just see the BBC being declared a terrorist organization...

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I know i'm a bit late on this, mainly because i only watched the countdown podcast this evening.

I've tried to maintain an interest in US politics, but its difficult to do when you are on the other side of the ocean. After coming here i've tried to make up for lost time, but even then my first real exposure to John McCain was in the Iowa debate. I saw someone who made my skin crawl, he honestly struck me as someone "scary beyond all reason", and when he finally rose to the republican leadership i found my inital gut reaction confirmed time and again. But i didn't have the historical depth to know enough about his history, beyond his status as a Viet-Cong prisoner of war and his rather slimy entry into US politics.

Comments like a hundred years in iraq, and lack of any knowledge about the world outside his bedroom, his attitudes to people who disagree with him, all helped confirmed my feeling that this is the president we were warned about. The one that would be so insane as to press the button.

Then came the "its not important" comment, and after all the attempts to defend the indefensible, Keith Olbermann delivered this commentary.

Part 2

Honestly, countdown can at best be called infotainment, it would not be considered news anywhere in Europe, but Keith Olbermann does sometimes channel the person he attempts to emulate.

He may not be Edward R. Munrrow, and the republican party is far more calculating and intelligent than Joe McCarthy, but if enough people listen to him, they might start thinking again.

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