07 June 2008

Finally

Hillary Clinton has conceded defeat in the Democratic Primaries and put her support behind Barack Obama. In this race she's gone from presumptive Democratic candidate back in 2006 and early 2007 to the one who came second today. During which she's gone through about 11 million dollars of her own money and she and Bill seemed to have managed to piss away all her dignity, reputation for being fair and even handed and a hell of a lot of good will that was felt towards the couple since their days in the White House. When the Republicans went after Obama for being elitist Clinton suddenly reinvented herself as being blue collar - Pah her father may have been at the start but he was a successful business man by the time of her of her birth, she herself has had a career that is very far away from blue collar unless I missed something and lawyers are now considered as horny handed toilers.

I first heard of Obama when I was on holiday in Milan in 04, as my Italian is almost as bad as their telly I spent a bit of time watching CNN on the TV in the hotel room, it was the democratic convention, he stood out as someone who was going to go places quickly, he had charisma, looks, dignity and could give a great speech. I don't know whether he will win the presidency but he's the best candidate to run in a long long while.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous15 June, 2008

    I forget who pointed this out, but if Hilary had won and been elected, the presidents would have read: Bush, Clinton, Clinton, Bush, Bush, Clinton.

    And surely dynastic succession is not the sort of thing the USA is about? I hope Obama gets elected, and I hope he doesn't get sucked into the establishment conventions and turns into your standard political clone.

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  2. Anonymous15 June, 2008

    Personally I've always thought the belief in "America being the land of equal opportunity" very overstated, they have always had wealthy political elites. For instance presidents #2 and #5 were father and son and the Roosevelts were related to each other too. If Bobby Kennedy hadn't been assassinated then he could have well followed his brother into the White House in '68. The only political example I can think of in the UK, where relatives have both achived the highest political office in the land are Pitt the Elder and Pitt the Younger but then again I learnt most of my British history from Blackadder*

    * Joke honest but it is mostly from telly.

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