Fuller thoughts on Presidential and UK politics

I'll deal with the US first:

On analysing the polling patterns, it's looking more and more sewn up for Obama and the debates are going his way. The residual tactics of the GOP seem nasty, desperate and are old hat - I really think the public are sick of dumbed down discourse.

 

The VP debate had Palin looking like a cocky local station news anchor, winking in the "see you tomorrow at the same time" way and faking her folksiness to painful effect. I suspected she'd try this hideous flannelling tactic she used so effectively in local politics to this national forum and it failed as badly as I thought it would.

 

Sure, pundits can pundit on about "holding her own" and "beating expectations" but the US public are clearly horrified by this useless, misguided VP pick. She made statements such as "we need more oversight and regulation" but then next minute talk about government "getting out of the way" and so on. She seemed oblivious to the contradiction - but I don't think the US public is.

 

McCain has judged this whole campaign quite appallingly and certain key plays have gone very wrong - not least the "suspension" of the campaign. Palin sucks at least as hard as Quayle but McCain is nowhere near as strong as Bush Snr was. You combine that with the context in which the republican president is currently less popular than scabies and he's got a (surely) unassailable uphill battle.

 

Meanwhile, in the UK, Gordon Brown survived conference season and has just completed a reshuffle. Absurdly, for someone trying to show strength and new ideas he's brought PETER MANDLESON back into the cabinet. You read that upper case right. Frigging Mandleson - who is having a kidney stone removed, incidentally. Staggering is probably the best word.

 

So the Tories are resurgent if you believe the media, though I can't truly believe that there's any real swell of warm feelings towards them so much as they've had time to thin out previous Major/Thatcher staff and the bad memories aren't as severe.

 

It's a shame because Brown could have done really well - especially if he'd followed through on the "listening" promises he banged on about when he took over (remember those speeches?). Now, the country seems destined to be at the mercy of the most "expediency"-driven Tory party in history with some proper right-wingers in the mix that have not yet garnered attention.

 

The economy is tanking and I can't help but blame Labour and the US administration (corrupt beyond belief and prostrate at the altar of all powerful corporations) for the whole thing. Many were warning of this for about 5 years but nowt was done. Which is usually the way and, although i don't see armageddon hoving in to view, I do think it's going to be a very very rough ride for a good couple of years. But I'd rather be going through this in the UK than the (almost) safety-net free US. I really fear for the millions who are going to suffer hideously due to this exhibition of how dark, amoral and dangerous unfettered capitalism really is. I've always believed the system was this bad but it seems to be a revelation to many right-wingers over there.