US Republican Primaries

He won't win, but it would at least be something different for America:



I'll say it again: Ron Paul is the only one of these sorry losers who would be good for America, and might, just might, return it to its former status.

But they won't. They won't change, they won't choose him, they won't see reality.

The mark of Cain

The American presidential race and the party primaries leading up to it constitute an endless fascination for me, like a freak show coming to town every four years. At the moment it is the Republican race and it is full of interest. Rick Perry, the front runner, suddenly forgot his own policies and is sunk. Mitt Romney, the current front runner, seems like an empty vessel, a rictus grin on a head devoid even of the intelligence needed to run a market stall.

Another leading contender is Newt Gingrich who, Americans have presumably forgotten, was fined $300,000 for making a misleading tax declaration, and who in 1998 presided over the worst mid-term performance of any party since the war.

Now Herman Cain steals the spotlight. A stream of women have claimed he sexually harassed them, and now another woman claims to have had a thirteen year affair, which Cain has denied but made no effort to disprove. Last night it all came to a head and he resigned his bid for the candidature.

Each time there seems to be someone who forgets that in running for President they will be subject to media scrutiny, some of it hostile. What sort of person with skeletons in his closet would be daft enough even to attempt a run? But they do. Someone always thinks he can cheat on his wife and nobody will know. Remember Gary Hart? John Edwards?

Addio Herman.

Next!

US Elections: change you can hope for

Not long ago a young friend wanted to interview for a job in a management consultancy. Being a cynic, I told her that if she wanted a job she had to use the word 'change' during the interview and that if she could mention it more than twice they would make her a manager. It worked, of course.

The same seems to go for politicians. The change we need, the change you can believe in, the candidate for change, it all seems to excite the voters into an endogenous righteous frenzy when they are a bit fed up with the way things are. Obama has been very careful to specify as little as possible what this change is going to be (other than the colour of the President's skin, which I admit is a change) and in my opinion, despite huge gains in Congress which ought to give him an easy time, the President elect should quickly start to dampen expectations. When the working class man has voted for 'Change' and then loses his job or has his house repossessed he is going to be highly disillusioned.

Obama has some tough times facing him and ought to start thinking about his second term now. In 2012 things still won't be great and he will need to stand on the Gordon Brown ticket - the guy with the experience to get us through this - the difference being that Obama didn't actually cause the problems in the first place.

In any case, I really don't think there are going to be many changes. It isn't the West Wing, it's real life.

US Elections: democracy at work

This is not just about the Presidency for Americans: Jessica May at the Adam Smith Institute, an absentee voter, posts up her ballot paper


Single Partisan Ticket (which does not include non-partisan elections or proposals): Republican, Democratic, Green, US Taxpayers, Libertarian, or for the Natural Law Party
Presidential: One choice of pair of President & VP candidates from above 6 parties
Congressional: A choice from 6 parties for senator, AND 4 for house representative
State of Michigan: A choice from 2 house representatives in 2 parties (Rep & Dem)
State Board of Education: Select 2 choices from 9 candidates (5 parties)
Regent of the University of Michigan: Select 2 choices from 9 candidates (5 parties)
Trustee of Michigan State University: Select 2 choices from 9 candidates (5 parties)
Governor of Wayne State University: Select 2 choices from 9 candidates (5 parties)
County Prosecuting Attorney: Select 1 choice from 1 candidate (Rep)
County Sheriff: Select 1 choice from 2 candidates (Rep & Dem)
County Clerk: Select 1 choice from 1 candidate (Rep)
County Treasurer: Select 1 choice from 1 candidate (Rep)
County Drain Commissioner: Select 1 choice from 2 candidates (Rep & Dem)
County Surveyor: Write in 1 candidate
County Commissioner: Select 1 choice from 1 candidate (Rep)
Township Supervisor: Select 1 choice from 2 candidates (Rep & Dem)
Township Clerk: Select 1 choice from 1 candidate (Rep)
Township Treasurer: Select 1 choice from 2 candidates (Rep & Dem)
Township Trustee: Select 2 choices from 2 candidates (Rep)
State Supreme Court Justice: Select 1 from 3 ‘non-partisan’ candidates
Judge of Court Appeals (Incumbent): Select 2 from 2 candidates (non-partisan)
Judge of Court Appeals (Non-incumbent): Select 1 from 2 candidates
Judge of Circuit Court: Select 1 from 1 candidate
Judge of District Court: Select 1 from 1 candidate
Judge of Probate Court: Select 1 from 1 candidate
County Community College Board of Trustees: Select 2 from 4 candidates
County Community College Board of Trustees (Partial term): Select 1 from 1
And finally, two state proposals to vote YES or NO on:
Proposal 08-01: A legislative initiative to permit the use and cultivation of marijuana for specified medical conditions
Proposal 08-02: A proposal to amend the state constitution to address human embryo and human embryonic stem cell research in Michigan

OK, it's a little intimidating, but just think about these equivalent jobs in the UK which are handed out without a by-your-leave from the electorate. I just love the idea of choosing between two County Drain Commissioners.

US Elections

Irwin Stelzer in today's Telegraph

'So sit back and enjoy the show. It is far more entertaining, and certainly more democratic, than waiting for the defenestration of a prime minister by a cabal of his colleagues.'

Teaching God

Recent news about the Republican Running Mate Sarah Palin sent my thoughts back several decades. I don’t mean that her daughter is pregnant – stuff, as another Republican pointed out, happens – but that she had agreed that creationism should be taught alongside Darwinism in schools.

As a child I pointed out to a schoolmaster that learning in one class that we were the result of a six day creation-fest and in another that we were descended from the apes smacked of inconsistency. He gave me the ‘I’ll try to be tolerant’ look and explained that one was Religious Instruction and the other was Biology.

The problem in America is that Church and State are strictly separated, so if you want to teach creationism you have to teach it as science, not religion.

A pity. I think most of us have problems with both, it’s just that one seems less unlikely than the other.

US voting

Today is the 88th anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment, which gave American women the right to vote.

Whether the Democrats will regret not choosing one as presidential candidate remains to be seen.