Monday, January 7, 2008

McCain versus Obama?

That accepted wisdom had been that Hilary Clinton was dead certain to become the new U.S. President by beating out Rudy in the general election.  Now, from Fresh Bilge I came upon an article in the UK daily telegraph that predicts McCain will beat Obama.  I never gave McCain much of a chance.  But it looks like he will win the New Hampshire Republican primary.  You have to love the unpredictability of American Politics.  The article in the Telegraph also compares the attitudes of the Americans and the Brits to American Democracy.  Changing from American coverage to British coverage, the reporter saw:

... the change of tone that was so startling: from the infectious optimism of the American reports to the world-weary cynicism of the British ones (this Obama thing can't possibly be as good as it sounds, and who is this yokel Huckabee?). What was most striking was the contrast between the unembarrassed respect in the US for the democratic process and thus for those who were participating in it, to the vague contempt in Britain for the whole demeaning circus.

I have the King of Wuxi wondering why I am so eagerly following the U.S. presidential election.  He has asked me why I, a Canadian, should care about it.  Patronizing American political blogs like I do, I have got caught up in the excitement.  The King of Wuxi, being a Liberal Party of Canada guy, of course would be cynical about democracy. 

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