Barack Obama won in Iowa. Hilary Clinton came third.
Hello Republican victory in 2008 – come on, swing states ain’t gonna vote for any darned niggers – and hello more disastrous foreign policy and HELLO BIG TIME TO CONTINUED GLOBAL WARMING. Finally, hello to extinction of life on planet Earth.
Seriously though, the 2008 election is massively important. I mean don’t get me wrong; I’m not under the illusion that the Democratic* Party is in any significant sense different to the Republicans across a range of issues. It’s just that concerning two issues in particular – foreign policy and global warming – i think there is enough distance between the two for it to make a real difference to the whole world. So I’d very much like to mount campaigns in the US which say something like “Americans, the world is depending on you – vote Democratic Party*” – but i get the feeling that foreigners telling Americans how to vote will just make them huffy, and so vote Republican. Which means we just have to sit back, watch, wait, and pray. Lots of praying.
*Because they are in fact called the Democratic Party. ‘Democrats’ is the obvious abbreviation, and one endorsed by the Republicans because ‘democrat’ is more vague and less inspiring than ‘democratic’.
4 January, 2008 at 3:43 pm |
ol’ obama doesnt seem too hot foreign policy wise. I think progressive minded people assume that we should like him cos, well..hes black. He has stood back from making any commitments regarding getting out of Iraq (even vague ones) and is a full on Israel nut. So I doubt the middle east will get much better with him as worlds most powerful man.
4 January, 2008 at 3:50 pm |
I know fuck all about US politics, but are the swing States the ones that ipso facto wouldn’t vote for a non-white person? I would have thought that those States would be Republican regardless of the Democrat candidate.
Of course, like I say I know hardly anything about US politics.
4 January, 2008 at 5:12 pm |
I would imagine that swing states ain’t gonna vote for any darned women either. Which leaves Edwards, who is debatably the most progressive of the Democrats. Don’t know whether this just increases the chances of a Republican victory.
I still find it incredible to believe that the most popular Republican in Iowa is a creationist, homophobic loony. Although, it seems that not all the strong Republican candidates pushed hard in Iowa.
The swing states have nothing to do with New Orleans jazz, and are the marginal ones that could go either way , so they’re definitely not Republican regardless.
5 January, 2008 at 3:48 pm |
Yeah, “swing states” does sort of imply that they could go either way, Peter…
5 January, 2008 at 4:01 pm |
Interesting though that Iowa is 97% white and bible bashing but they voted for him. Have just listened to his victory speech, he’s very charismatic and VERY American.
5 January, 2008 at 4:48 pm |
I know that. The claim is that:
a) there are swing states
b) these same swing states are the states that would not elect a black guy
I am merely saying that I would not have expected the states that would not elect a black guy to be swing states. Instead, I would have expected the states who would not elect a black guy to be safe republican.
DYS?
5 January, 2008 at 4:56 pm |
No, cos America is fundamentally racist.
5 January, 2008 at 4:59 pm |
Phil:
These are only primaries (or caucus in Iowa; not sure of the difference), so from what i understand only paid up democrats can vote in the democratic race. Most paid-up democrats are less racist than average americans, i expect.
It is actually a really interesting event in world history though, a black man could be running for President of America, where 60 years ago apartheid was effectively the case across many states, and where black people have been effective second class citizens since the Emancipation Proclomation.