by Tan Copsey
With the dust barely settled on an intriguing and ultimately gratifying campaign season in the US, everyone from the media to the dastardly politicians themselves are now focussing on what really matters – the next elections! Sorry no time to sort out Iraq, the minimum wage, the endemic corruption that has come to characterise US democracy, or for that matter how to interfere more effectively in the lives of those pesky homosexuals. Instead I, like everyone else, have chosen to focus on the race for the Presidency 2008, which began this week (OK so a convincing argument could be made that it began the moment John Kerry conceded defeat in November 2004 – but I’m going to ignore this completely).
Today we all welcomed the news that Rudy Giuliani has effectively set out his store– joining less well known individuals like Iowa Democrat Tom Vilsack, and California Republican Duncan Hunter. Of course whilst Giuliani’s candidacy has credibility (barring questions about his age, health, and ability to escape the Republican primary swamp) everyone is really interested in those candidates who are much too smart to declare this early –John McCain, Barack Obama, Hillary, Mitt Romney, and John Kerry come to mind. One thing the mid-terms taught us is that only the incredibly strong survive these days, and you can immediately think of any number of actual reasons why this lot won’t necessarily succeed - too old, too black, too female, too Mormon, and too godawful to contemplate.
In fact it’s all really set up for (hackneyed American political cliché no: 513) the most open presidential race since 1952 (or the twenties if you’re a going to be a pedant about it). So I say bring on the surprises, intrigue, lies, and beautiful, beautiful smear campaigns …
