M in America http://minamerica.posterous.com Most recent posts at M in America posterous.com Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:50:00 -0700 My new best friends http://minamerica.posterous.com/my-new-best-friends http://minamerica.posterous.com/my-new-best-friends

For the best two months I've been recieving emails, almost daily, from my two new best friends Barack and Joe (no not the plumber). They've written to tell me about their days and the fun they've been having out on the road, even inviting me to join them sometimes. They've also asked for money, on quite a regular basis, which seems a bit presumptuous for friends I've known for only a short time.

Even so, I'm going to miss them on November 6th, when they stop writing as surely as new pen friends do after a few months. There'll be no more emails urging me to go speak to my neighbours, no more emails asking me to get in strangers cars and drive to Virginia, no more cheeky requests for cash... Hmmm maybe, I won't miss them that much...

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12949/IMG_0397.JPG http://posterous.com/people/10GQbgnsyIh M M Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:04:19 -0700 20 days to go http://minamerica.posterous.com/20-days-to-go http://minamerica.posterous.com/20-days-to-go
It's the final debate tonight.  Last week's was almost unwatchable - it was bitter and tense and unpleasant without there being anything new or different being said.

The emerging consensus here is that it's going to be an Obama victory, and the question seems to be whether it'll be by a hair or a landslide.  Being a veteran of British elections, which are 4-6 weeks at most, none of this 18 month/2 year nonsense, polls three and a half week out mean nothing.  Much like Toby in the West Wing I'm currently making people turn around three times and spit if they even hint at an Obama presidency (I'm looking at you).

Laurie and I spent the weekend touring all the presidential monuments in DC.  Something every president should be required to do -  if you're not doing enough to get a  *giant* monument built to you, you need to be doing much, much more.

Why it may not all be over on November 4th: Politico
Will Sarah Palin go on SNL?: MSNBC
Partying with Barack Obama

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12949/IMG_0397.JPG http://posterous.com/people/10GQbgnsyIh M M Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:36:55 -0700 It's getting nasty http://minamerica.posterous.com/its-getting-nasty http://minamerica.posterous.com/its-getting-nasty

Tonight's debate is just under an hour away and the modd ahead of this one is very different from last week's VP debate.  There's no eager anticipation of gaffs, or shocks, or hillarious incidents.  Tonight it's much more serious.  Almost as soon as the VP debate finished the Republicans want on the attack.  After Sarah Palin was praised for her stringing of words together into actual sentences, she used her new found skill to start accusing Barack Obama of "palling around with terrorists" and "not seeing America like you and I see America".  And she's been repeating these at campaign rallies ever since.  There's an interesting article here from the AP about the visciousness of the attacks, and the racial undertones.

A poll today puts Obama 9 points ahead, causing many of us to worry that he has peaked too early.  It's strange, but after two split down the middle elections where the balance swung the wrong way, that Obama is pulling ahead is almost more worrying than if he were behind.  We're exactly four weeks out and 2000 and 2004 warn us that a democrat poll lead at this point can decrease much more easily than it can increase.

Boy and I went to see Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater story over the weekend.  Karl Rove was Lee Atwater's protege.  He masterminded Bush Snr's defeat of Michael Dukakis in 1988.  It's both quite a revealing and chilling tale, and if they win in November it'll be because him.

Somethings to cheer you up after this rather glass half empty post:
SNL's take on the VP debate
The Daily Show on the VP debate
Latest Gallup Poll: 9 points up

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12949/IMG_0397.JPG http://posterous.com/people/10GQbgnsyIh M M Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:30:53 -0700 Last night's debate http://minamerica.posterous.com/last-nights-debate http://minamerica.posterous.com/last-nights-debate
The one problem with having a debate party is that you then have a tendency to talk over the candidates, much more interested in what the person said across the room and the consumption of peanut butter M&Ms.  However some thoughts from last night.  Bidden first - he was great, he was coherent, he was on message, he was gaff free, he wasn't condescending, he gave a spirited defense of Obama's policies and attacked McCain vigorously, whilst being ever so respectful of Sarah Palin, calling her Governor.

Palin did fine.  She was gaff free apart from the odd mispronunciation (calling Joe Bidden Senator Obidden at one point).  But, and this was telling, she refused to answer the questions she was asked.  She stuck to her talking points throughout, whether they related to the question or not.  At one point, when Joe Bidden pulled her up on not answering the question, she replied "I may not answer the questions the way you or the moderator want to hear, but I'm going to talk to the American people."  Not sure what you do with that in a debate where the main point is to answer the questions you were asked.

As evidence of just how low the expectations on Sarah Palin were going into the debate this week, a commentator on CNN this morning actually said, in all seriousness:  "She used complete sentences, she hit a home run".  Not sure what you do with that either.

Palin did enough to shore up, for now, her apparent downward pull on the McCain ticket and possibly stopped the rot of the McCain downward spiral in the polls.  She didn't convince independents or democrats to vote for her, but she probably reassured the republican base that she was what they are looking for.  Bidden proved himself a very able running mate and a positive force for Obama.

If I had to trust either of them with the nuclear codes, I'd trust Bidden and snap polls after suggested a majority of viewers felt the same. 

In UK news:
Peter Mandelson is back in the Cabinet!  Mandelson who had to resign twice before because of "errors in judgment".  David Blunkett, who has also resigned from the Cabinet twice before, welcomed Mandelson's return...  It's all part of the Labour Party's green credentials: a new department for energy and climate change and recycling cabinet ministers.

Today I am mostly:
Enjoying the sunny October weather
Eating cake
Too busy to think of a third thing due to the cake eating


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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12949/IMG_0397.JPG http://posterous.com/people/10GQbgnsyIh M M Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:02:00 -0700 Ingrediants for a VP debate party http://minamerica.posterous.com/ingrediants-for-a-vp-debate-pa http://minamerica.posterous.com/ingrediants-for-a-vp-debate-pa

3 large packets of M&Ms (almond, peanut butter and peanut), 1 giant bag of pretzels, 1 box of popcorn, 3 packets of crips inluding tortialla chips, 1 bag of pita chips, carrots, peppers, celery, tomatos, humous, salsa, guacamole, two bottles of wine (rose and red), twelve bottles of beer, half a bottle of gin, some tonic, a large TV showing CNN and mix in 3 -10 Washington DC political geeks.

About to play: the VP debate drinking game
Have been playing: The Sarah Palin game
Take me out: to the ball game

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12949/IMG_0397.JPG http://posterous.com/people/10GQbgnsyIh M M Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:58:05 -0700 Pre-game excitment http://minamerica.posterous.com/pre-game-excitment http://minamerica.posterous.com/pre-game-excitment

CNN have just been playng with thier electoral map, turning red states into blue with the touch of a finger in response to today's polls.  With Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania turning blue and Virginia, Nevada and Missouri now in play it's sometimes hard not to get excited.  If the election was tomorrow, Obama would win.  If the election had been two and half weeks ago, McCain would have won, probably. 

What the candidats have for breakfast
What I saw in New York
Who I saw at the weekend

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12949/IMG_0397.JPG http://posterous.com/people/10GQbgnsyIh M M Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:15:35 -0700 35 days to go... http://minamerica.posterous.com/35-days-to-go http://minamerica.posterous.com/35-days-to-go
...And my updates have been sporadic so I hope you're getting your US election news from somewhere else.

Although the big campaign event was the debate on Friday (more of which later) there have been a few other highlights over the past two weeks:

John McCain got very confused - may have mistaken Spain for Mexico, may have thought the Spanish Prime Minister was a Mexican rebel, or may really have meant to say that if elected he wouldn't meet with his Spanish counterpart and NATO ally. 

We were all obsessed by the Sarah Palin baby name generator until the much more fun Sarah Palin quote generator came along.  In other news, she continued to struggle with answering questions in interviews, and Tina Fey continued to play her on Saturday Night Live (apparently she's a huge Hillary fan, Tina Fey that is, not Sarah Palin).

Joe Bidden, the Democrat Vice Presidential nominee, who you'll be forgiven for not being able to name, continued his gaff prone ways (think more Boris Johnson than Sarah Palin), describing in one interview how FDR had gone on TV after the Wall Street Crash to reassure the nation (the Wall Street Crash happened in 1929, Herbert Hoover was President, and TVs weren't commonplace in American homes for at least another decade).  Fortunately A-Level History is not a pre-requisite for being VP, although maybe we should look into the possibility that it should be...

The first presidential debate was on Friday.  John McCain almost didn't show, having "suspended" his campaign until the economic crisis was resolved.  A calculated move that could have shown him to be a decisive leader, but one which is now widely viewed as a rather serious miscalculation, looking like political posturing, and showing John McCain as a troublesome meddler rather than a reassuring leader.

The press called the debate a score draw, the public in the polls seem to have declared an Obama victory.  John McCain needed a decisive win over Obama, foreign policy is meant to be McCain's strength, but Obama held his own, and was stronger on the economy.  Also, McCain refused to look at Obama all the way through the debate, which really wasn't very friendly of him.

Coming up this week: Sarah Palin and Joe Bidden will square off to see who can most mangle the English language in the Vice Presidential debate

Current polls: Obama 49%, McCain 43%

And now for something completely different
Tony Blair on the Daily Show
George Clooney will cameo in the final season of ER
Heroes is back, and its very good

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12949/IMG_0397.JPG http://posterous.com/people/10GQbgnsyIh M M Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:20:15 -0700 Looking up? http://minamerica.posterous.com/looking-up-1 http://minamerica.posterous.com/looking-up-1
I don't know how the "crisis on wall street" is playing out back home, but over here it has done one very useful thing for the Obama campaign: people have stopped talking about Sarah Palin, for the first time in two and a half weeks.  And the media is once again covering the candidates' position on the actual issues, even if both candidates have struggled to put out a clear message, other than: 'If I win, this won't happen again.  If the other guy wins you can be sure it will'.  Well they would say that, wouldn't they.  But after five days when Sarah Palin wasn't the top news item, Obama is once again leading in the polls, if only by a hair's breadth.

Other interesting things:
John McCain's campaign has received at least $11.4m from the "struggling investment sector", Obama's at least $8.9m.
The campaigns are increasingly focusing their campaign advertising on women, by placing more ads during Oprah than any other show (bar the news).
Sarah Palin's personal email account, which she was rather naughtily using to conduct official business, apparently, has been hacked


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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12949/IMG_0397.JPG http://posterous.com/people/10GQbgnsyIh M M Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:31:29 -0700 News vacuum http://minamerica.posterous.com/news-vacuum http://minamerica.posterous.com/news-vacuum
With most of the attention focused on Wall Street and the dramatic events over the weekend, there's little time to follow the echo chamber that is the campaign race at the moment.  Tina Fey's turn as Sarah Palin on Saturday night was still making the news last night, and it looks like the next big news won't be until the first debate between Obama and McCain next week.  Today there are scattered campaign stories, with no consensus on what's important.  So as, much like John McCain, I don't understand the economy as well as I should, have these amusing bon mots instead:

1.  Bands try to stop the Republicans using their music
2.  Sarah Palin may or may not have been to Iraq as previously claimed
3.  Much like Al Gore invented the internet, John McCain apparently invented the BlackBerry


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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12949/IMG_0397.JPG http://posterous.com/people/10GQbgnsyIh M M Sun, 14 Sep 2008 09:46:16 -0700 This week... http://minamerica.posterous.com/this-week-0 http://minamerica.posterous.com/this-week-0

Nothing happened, absolutely nothing.  Well that's not quite true.  Sarah Palin continued to use her 'thanks but no thanks on the bridge to nowehere' and 'put the plane on ebay' stories in her stump speech, days after the media showed without doubt that these stories really weren't, you know, accurate.  And unlike the British media, who would frankly have destoryed her by this point,  the American news's main story on Tuesday was that she was continuing to use these stories, but by Wednesday they were carrying the same stump speech, with the same 'inaccuracies' live for at least the second day in a row...

The big news on Wednesday was that Obama had called Sarah Palin a pig.  Although he hadn't, not at all, not in anyway.  Apparently over here there's a fairly common expression that 'you can put a lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig', to describe John McCain's economic plan but because he used the magic word 'lipstick' he was clearly calling Sarah Palin a pig, obviously.

Elsewhere the Republican campaign continued to spread other stories that weren't, you know, accurate.  Prompting the media to ask, have the campaigns 'lied too much' this year. I wonder when they crossed the line from an acceptable amount of lying to an unacceptable point of lying? 

In other news Sarah Palin gave her first interview to the press, two weeks after being put on the presidential ticket and a week after the Republican's claimed that she wouldn't be doing interviews.  General consensus - she did ok, meh.  But she did give this rather wonderful answer to way she was contnuing to talk about 'the bridge to no where' and the 'plane on ebay' in her stump speech.


Watch: Tina Fey as Sarah Palin
Obama on David Letterman
The Daily Show, just because

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12949/IMG_0397.JPG http://posterous.com/people/10GQbgnsyIh M M Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:48:00 -0700 Pause http://minamerica.posterous.com/pause http://minamerica.posterous.com/pause
It's the 7th anniversary of 9/11.  No news today, just pictures.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12949/IMG_0397.JPG http://posterous.com/people/10GQbgnsyIh M M Mon, 08 Sep 2008 09:56:00 -0700 Customer service, what customer service? http://minamerica.posterous.com/customer-service-what-customer http://minamerica.posterous.com/customer-service-what-customer
There was the metro station staff member, who was too busy checking out the female passengers to let me through when my ticket stopped working, and who was very pissed off when I finally got his attention.
There was another metro staff member, who I needed to let me through the ticket barrier (my pass till not working), who said not one word to me, but just jerked her head in the vague direction of the ticket gate.
There was the man in the local coffee shop who forgot to give me my croissant and who got very shirty when, after waiting for 3 or 4 minutes, I actually asked for it.
Then there was the man in Starbucks, who, when I started counting out my change to pay him for my overpriced coffee drink and dry croissant, swore at me for taking longer than 2 seconds to hand over my money.

Really not loving the 'service culture' over here.

Campaign news:
Sarah Palin did not, in fact, sell the Alaskan Governors plane on ebay
After a pre-weekend lead for Obama, the polls are neck-a-neck, or even showing a McCain lead
But really, who cares about elections when there's tennis to be watched




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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12949/IMG_0397.JPG http://posterous.com/people/10GQbgnsyIh M M Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:37:00 -0700 The RNC says 9/11 a lot http://minamerica.posterous.com/the-rnc-says-911-a-lot http://minamerica.posterous.com/the-rnc-says-911-a-lot
So I fell asleep during John McCain's speech last night, but the Guardian live blogged it if you're interested in finding out what happened.

The general response is one of 'underwhelm' but last night wasn't without controversy.  Before McCain's speech the Republican National Convention played a video about 9/11. The Convention was going out live on CNN and MSNBC, after the video the MSNBC host said:

"If at this late date, any television network had, of its own accord, shown that much video tape and that much graphic video tape of 9/11...it, we, would be rightly eviscerated at all quarters, perhaps by the Republican Party itself, for exploiting the memories of the dead, and perhaps even for trying to evoke that pain again. If you reacted to that video tape the way I did, I apologize. It is a subject of great pain, for many of us still, and it was probably not appropriate to be shown."

You can watch the reaction here - there's also a link to the 9/11 video itself.

Other people who say 9/11 a lot: Rudy Giuliani
Mostly watching: CNN
Mainly awaiting: Tropical Storm Hanna




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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12949/IMG_0397.JPG http://posterous.com/people/10GQbgnsyIh M M Thu, 04 Sep 2008 07:12:21 -0700 Be afraid, be very afraid... http://minamerica.posterous.com/be-afraid-be-very-afraid http://minamerica.posterous.com/be-afraid-be-very-afraid
... American politics really isn't like British politics.

At the Republican Convention last night, Ruddy Giuliani had the crowd, several thousand strong chanting "Drill, Baby, Drill!  Drill, Baby, Drill!"  in support of McCain's plan to increase off-shore drilling and Sarah Palin's support for drilling for oil in the Alaskan Wildlife Reserve.  It's like the Tory party standing up at their conference and chanting "Cut Benefits Now!  Cut Benefits Now!".  Absolutely repulsive, and really quite terrifying.  No wonder American politics is so polarised.

In Sarah Palin the Republican Party has found a woman who will speak to and energise their conservative heartland in a way that McCain just can't.  Many of these people may well have stayed at home, feeling that there was no one on the ticket that represented their values.  That's no longer the case.  They now have someone to rally around, someone who speaks to them and someone who they will through their full support behind to keep Obama and Bidden from winning in November. 

It's going to be tough, it's going to be very tough.

Other thoughts from the RNC:
George Bush speaks like he is chewing gum, and expecting applause at the end of every sentence, not necessarily for what he has said but for managing to read the tele-prompter correctly.
Apparently, 'Community Organizer' is a term of abuse to the right in America, leading to raucous laughter in the RNC hall - no I don't understand why.
Giuliani only said 9/11 once last night, leading to much disappointment among those playing the Giuliani 9/11 drinking game




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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12949/IMG_0397.JPG http://posterous.com/people/10GQbgnsyIh M M Mon, 01 Sep 2008 06:40:00 -0700 Just what the doctor ordered... http://minamerica.posterous.com/just-what-the-doctor-ordered http://minamerica.posterous.com/just-what-the-doctor-ordered

In every television ad break  over here you can't get away from the issue of healthcare.  Whether it's adverts for perscription and non-perscription drugs (the side affects they list make you wonder why anyone would ever take anything), to adverts for healthcare insurance (given the privatised nature of american healthcare, this is something everyone needs but not everyone has) or adverts for perscription discounts for those who don't have insurance.  To this comercial mix has been added political adverts, seeking to push the issue up the election agenda.  There's one that tells you that 1.87million americans go bankrupt every year because they can't afford to pay their healthcare bills, and one where a middle class couple insist that healthcare must be the next president's priority because their friend Steve has just been disagnosed with cancer, and he's just joined a start-up which "can't afford" insurance for its employees. 

But the most telling story was actually on an episode of the american version of Deal or No Deal.  Sally, from the mid-West, the first in her family to graduate college and newly married.  She had gone on Deal or No Deal in the hopes that with her winnings she and her husband could finally afford health care insurance, without which, they couldn't start a family.

The American healthcare system is very different from the UK, and no one over here is arguing for the american version of the NHS.  But a system which means that a couple have to go on a game show to essentially win their healthcare insurance to then be able to start a family...?  There's something very wrong with that.

 

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12949/IMG_0397.JPG http://posterous.com/people/10GQbgnsyIh M M