It’s hard to think about the democratic race without wondering how much the acrimonious fight between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is helping John McCain. I think that it is, without a doubt, but worries that it will cost the Democrats the election are still premature – McCain has his own problems and all the extended Democrat fight will do is provide him with a more even playing field.

The long and the short of it, (more…)

Back in December, I spoke with my boss about the American elections. Already, back then it was heating up into an interesting race…between the two democratic candidates. The Republican field was fractured with no major powers in play after the collapse of John McCain in September. The democrats, on the other hand, were motivated and pumped up by the lamentable George W. Bush Presidency and the prospect of a history-making choice of nominees (sorry Mr. Edwards, this just wasn’t your year). When discussing the choice of candidates, I tipped Hillary Clinton for the nomination – not on strength of her candidacy but because of the perceived power of the Clinton political machine. I’d expected her to make a quick hash out of Obama regardless of the fact that I believed Barack was really the better of the two candidates.

Well, I guess that’s what comes from being an outside observer. I’m sure (more…)

Well, the Malaysian elections are all over while the fratricidal battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama drags on as old John McCain struggles to make up the mileage against his formidable potential foes. The US elections are a world and a half away from the twisted, corrupt farce that are the Malaysian elections, yet both the democrats and republicans will do well to keep in mind the results of this quasi-democratic exercise from the middle of Asia’s willy.

Right from the outset the ruling National Front (BN), an all-conquering juggernaut, formed of a coalition of numerous political parties goose stepping in time to the beat of the ruling Malay nationalist party UMNO, dominated the electoral scene. Dominating the media airwaves, they arrogantly assumed (more…)

Most people around me know my opinions on a lot of contentious issues. My political position has been firmly right-of-center for a very long time. Though I’m considered liberal on certain social issues, on matters concerning the economy and foreign policy, I fall firmly on the conservative side of the spectrum. I am openly in favor of NAFTA and free trade. I have a strongly Friedman–influenced ideal of economics. I unashamedly supported and continue to support the US mission in Iraq, even if I continue to decry Bush’s folly of attempting the whole SNAFU on a shoestring budget. I have gone so far as to defend the necessity of Guantanamo Bay (before you burn me at the stake, I’ll just say in my defense that I’ve forsworn this position – Guantanamo does far more damage to America’s attempts at quelling militant Islam than is justified by the overt benefits it has yielded).

Yet, again and again I find myself attracted to Barack Obama. When Obama (more…)

I thought nothing would ever make Rush Limbaugh defend John McCain. Looks like I was wrong. After the NYT published an article linking McCain (possibly romantically) to a prominent Washington lobbyist, Rush and his fellow right wing hosts leapt up to McCain’s defense. I guess even having a token Republican in office is more palatable than a pure democrat. Even one who promises to reach across the isle like Obama.

No matter how much Hillary Clinton claims she’s the best bet to take on John McCain in the general elections, the simple fact is that, from a strictly electoral demographic standpoint, Barack Obama is easily McCain’s worst nightmare. For starters, both McCain and Obama have proven to draw from the same pool of potential voters – independents. McCain’s primary strength has always been of the moderate conservative / center-right type that wouldn’t vote for Hillary at almost any price.

I might be unfair, but Hillary unlocked the “Flaming Liberal” achievement years ago, and that is not going away anytime soon, the more so now that she’s shifted her focus to the blue-collar bloc, unconsciously occupying the (more…)