The US Presidential Race

I tend to stay away from discussing politics too often as it is a sure-fire way to loose friends, but Tendrils kicked me into tossing in my 2¢ on the whole US presidential race, so I’ll put on my flame proof suit and here goes.

[I will start by saying that again, this is my opinion. You may not like it, and I may even be wrong (feel free to tell me so in the comments)… but is my blog so I will say it like I see it 🙂

However I can not pretend that I am neutral on this, so if you are looking for balance … you will need to find it elsewhere like Fox News :roll: .]

In the past I have been ambivalent towards US politics. I remember laughing at “Those Crazy Americans” who had elected the “Joke Candidate” when George Bush used his family connections to steal the election. Why should I care … not my country. Alas what happens in America happens to the world, we just don’t get a say in it 😯 .

It has historically also been rather predictable, much like UK politics where the difference between the candidates is like night and … well … the bit that comes after the evening. This time someone seems to have rewritten the script.

Let me start by saying this has already been the most interesting political battle I have ever witnessed. Unless you have spent the past few months with your head under a pillow shouting “la la la can’t here you”, you can not have failed to notice that history is unfolding. The democrats have been facing the decision over whether to nominate the first Black candidate or the First Female candidate. Either way it was going to be momentous and a huge leap forward for one oppressed group.

Well (again, as you may have seen in the press) the black guy, Sen. Barack Obama, won that particular battle. Should he have asked Clinton to be his running mate? I don’t think she left that as an option.

These events would have been interesting enough to have grabbed my attention, but the most striking thing seems to be the way Obama is conducting himself. Now things like this are objective, but it seems that Obama has tried to maintain his integrity throughout. Yes there are claims that he has been using his colour to his advantage, but to some extent, it is that much of a disadvantage, it probably does not even level up the playing field.

Now I may be cynical, but I don’t think that the fact that as soon as Hillary dropped out, McCain announced his running mate to be Sarah Palin is even slightly coincidental. He is looking to capitalise on the women that feel alienated by Clinton’s loss. This is shameless! You can bet he had a black candidate lined up for if it went the other way.

Now as much as I like is choice of literature, Bush’s legacy on the world stage is shameful. His lack of respect for anyone from outside of his own borders (not to mention some of those within them), is appalling. The fact that he and his cronies have been allowed to ride roughshod over the constitution is diabolical. The fact that he has enlisted executive privilege to get his ass out of trouble should be criminal!

As much as he is now scrambling to distance himself from the Bush regieme, the feeling that electing John McCain would be like giving Bush a third term.

And I think that as unpalatable as that is to many Americans (much like the behaviour of my government is to me) they have been given a chance to metaphorically put up their hands and say “Oops, our bad. We’ll sort it”. I just hope they take the opportunity presented to them.

Well I said I might offend a few people with this one … hopefully I wont loose to many of you 🙂 … remember, if you feel I am wrong … tell me why.