It might be useful to have an ongoing thread about the US election. Here are a few thoughts that might be of interest to some:
1. A very low turn out in New Hampshire. While Romney secured a 16% advantage over the candidate in second place - he was just 1% ahead of McCain there in 2008 - Tea Party supporters are largely abstaining. This on paper is better news for Obama than Mitt. The rightly reviled Fox News were very good last night in their coverage of the primary and the analysis. Incredibly they almost met the high standards of the excellent C-Span. The one thing Fox can do well is scrutinize the nuances of Republicanism.
C-Span : Campaign 2012 - http://www.c-span.org/Campaign2012/
The Fox News tracker system - http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elec...primary-jan-10
2. Republican attacks on Romney are getting more peculiar. During this first primary - Iowa was only a caucus - they shifted from condemnation of his flip-flopping to his metropolitan establishment status. Bizarrely, even ardent capitalist Perry, who sat this one out, accused him of vulture like money making. The new big sin in the Republican Party is to be the wrong kind of capitalist. Perry who is so Texan that he is an absolute caricature should do reasonably well in South Carolina. His money obsessions and his extreme religiosity will appeal more to the Tea Party people. But he is gaffe prone and his record is poor. He won't stay the course.
3. Ron Paul did very well to finish second. In many ways, support for this ex-Libertarian Party member indicates the extent of disgruntlement. However, he is redefining the whole concept of building a natural support base. Some on the far right just love his opposition to taxes, spending on services, abortion and restrictions on guns. Students on the left are keen because he is more laissez faire than some on homosexuality and completely opposed to fighting expensive wars. Somehow his voters seem to be able to see only the parts of the agenda they like. And, oddly, there is some significant coherency to his philosophy, based as it is on a perception of constitutional history. It makes the left-right scale look rather bogus, at least inside the United States.
4. Jon Huntsman finished third. He is the candidate who could appeal most to floating Democrats. He appears to be a likeable candidate who could either sink or swim from this point onwards. South Carolina is unlikely to do him any favours but who knows? Interestingly, he is at the age of 51 the youngest candidate in the field and the only one who is keen on Captain Beefheart. He appears along with the oldest, Ron Paul, 76, to be picking up the youth vote. Maybe Britain should ditch its political kids.
Piers Morgan interviews Jon Huntsman - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiCACYZku4k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHXSx...eature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V-6fye8its
5. The very apparent emotional immaturity of Santorum, 53, is being questioned. He still effectively tied with Gingrich in New Hampshire, following a second place in Iowa, just eight votes behind Romney. These two make for interesting contrasts. Like Perry and Paul, both have very conservative voting records. Santorum is full of youthful cockiness and presents attitudes that are holier than thou while declaring war on virtually everything. He doesn’t seem particularly well-informed. Gingrich has so much baggage from extensive political experience that he could almost be the new Nixon. His low placing yesterday indicates the public mistrust of political chicanery. And yet when you look at this brilliant clip from 2002 concerning the war on terror and the police state, what is clear is that he has thoughtfulness and depth. Don’t completely write him off just yet, although it does look like it's Mitt.
Newt Gingrich and Christopher Hitchens - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OET1U...eature=related
1. A very low turn out in New Hampshire. While Romney secured a 16% advantage over the candidate in second place - he was just 1% ahead of McCain there in 2008 - Tea Party supporters are largely abstaining. This on paper is better news for Obama than Mitt. The rightly reviled Fox News were very good last night in their coverage of the primary and the analysis. Incredibly they almost met the high standards of the excellent C-Span. The one thing Fox can do well is scrutinize the nuances of Republicanism.
C-Span : Campaign 2012 - http://www.c-span.org/Campaign2012/
The Fox News tracker system - http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elec...primary-jan-10
2. Republican attacks on Romney are getting more peculiar. During this first primary - Iowa was only a caucus - they shifted from condemnation of his flip-flopping to his metropolitan establishment status. Bizarrely, even ardent capitalist Perry, who sat this one out, accused him of vulture like money making. The new big sin in the Republican Party is to be the wrong kind of capitalist. Perry who is so Texan that he is an absolute caricature should do reasonably well in South Carolina. His money obsessions and his extreme religiosity will appeal more to the Tea Party people. But he is gaffe prone and his record is poor. He won't stay the course.
3. Ron Paul did very well to finish second. In many ways, support for this ex-Libertarian Party member indicates the extent of disgruntlement. However, he is redefining the whole concept of building a natural support base. Some on the far right just love his opposition to taxes, spending on services, abortion and restrictions on guns. Students on the left are keen because he is more laissez faire than some on homosexuality and completely opposed to fighting expensive wars. Somehow his voters seem to be able to see only the parts of the agenda they like. And, oddly, there is some significant coherency to his philosophy, based as it is on a perception of constitutional history. It makes the left-right scale look rather bogus, at least inside the United States.
4. Jon Huntsman finished third. He is the candidate who could appeal most to floating Democrats. He appears to be a likeable candidate who could either sink or swim from this point onwards. South Carolina is unlikely to do him any favours but who knows? Interestingly, he is at the age of 51 the youngest candidate in the field and the only one who is keen on Captain Beefheart. He appears along with the oldest, Ron Paul, 76, to be picking up the youth vote. Maybe Britain should ditch its political kids.
Piers Morgan interviews Jon Huntsman - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiCACYZku4k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHXSx...eature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V-6fye8its
5. The very apparent emotional immaturity of Santorum, 53, is being questioned. He still effectively tied with Gingrich in New Hampshire, following a second place in Iowa, just eight votes behind Romney. These two make for interesting contrasts. Like Perry and Paul, both have very conservative voting records. Santorum is full of youthful cockiness and presents attitudes that are holier than thou while declaring war on virtually everything. He doesn’t seem particularly well-informed. Gingrich has so much baggage from extensive political experience that he could almost be the new Nixon. His low placing yesterday indicates the public mistrust of political chicanery. And yet when you look at this brilliant clip from 2002 concerning the war on terror and the police state, what is clear is that he has thoughtfulness and depth. Don’t completely write him off just yet, although it does look like it's Mitt.
Newt Gingrich and Christopher Hitchens - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OET1U...eature=related
yes, what a comparison in this sense!
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