In Britain we tend to blame America for a lot of the less desirable change we see and I think most people regard the trivialisation of politics – looks, mannerisms, soundbites - as having inexorably reached us from across the Atlantic (although I wonder if Anthony Eden would have done so well without his good looks).
But I was watching a video of John McCain the other day and he seems to belie this. He seemed short (surely a disqualifier in itself), jowly, old and with a curious high pitched whine of a voice with which he increasingly seems to make out of touch remarks and allow his temper to get the better of him.
Look at Obama, by contrast. Male model good looks, a soaring manly voice, oratory straight out of Churchill and Martin Luther King.
So why isn’t Obama miles ahead in the polls?
Personally I don’t think it is a racial thing; all but a small proportion of Americans seem to have passed that point and probably most of those would be Republicans anyway. True it might take an exceptional black candidate to make the White House but Obama looks exceptional.
And I don’t think it is the economy. The reason I would hesitate to vote for him is his espousal of protectionism, policy which would make the poor poorer. But I think a large proportion of Americans believe in a bit of protectionism.
Is Obama a busted flush? Did he soar so high like Icarus that his fall is as dramatic as his rise? It was inevitable that as the campaign progressed that he would look more human, more normal, but are the voters not prepared to pardon this?
After a murky start with Condoleezza Rice’s presence in Georgia before the recent upheavals, George Bush has looked good: standing up to Russia with rhetoric and with support for Georgia. This will have helped McCain’s campaign. It only needs another such crisis for security and foreign policy – his long suits – to take centre stage.
But I was watching a video of John McCain the other day and he seems to belie this. He seemed short (surely a disqualifier in itself), jowly, old and with a curious high pitched whine of a voice with which he increasingly seems to make out of touch remarks and allow his temper to get the better of him.
Look at Obama, by contrast. Male model good looks, a soaring manly voice, oratory straight out of Churchill and Martin Luther King.
So why isn’t Obama miles ahead in the polls?
Personally I don’t think it is a racial thing; all but a small proportion of Americans seem to have passed that point and probably most of those would be Republicans anyway. True it might take an exceptional black candidate to make the White House but Obama looks exceptional.
And I don’t think it is the economy. The reason I would hesitate to vote for him is his espousal of protectionism, policy which would make the poor poorer. But I think a large proportion of Americans believe in a bit of protectionism.
Is Obama a busted flush? Did he soar so high like Icarus that his fall is as dramatic as his rise? It was inevitable that as the campaign progressed that he would look more human, more normal, but are the voters not prepared to pardon this?
After a murky start with Condoleezza Rice’s presence in Georgia before the recent upheavals, George Bush has looked good: standing up to Russia with rhetoric and with support for Georgia. This will have helped McCain’s campaign. It only needs another such crisis for security and foreign policy – his long suits – to take centre stage.
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