Primary elections

It would be impossible to spend time in the US without being aware of the primary elections going on around the country now. When I turned on the TV on Monday night there were 5 channels discussing the US politics, and another 2 news channels that were mainly covering the election run-up to the voting in Texas and Ohio yesterday.

I have to confess, I spent over 3 hours last night watching CNN as it broadcast the live updates on the vote counting in those states - it was better than any soap opera! The numbers were amazingly close, when I first turned on the box it was 49% : 50% of the counted votes going to Clinton : Obama in the Texas primaries. A few minutes later it had shifted to 49% : 49%. The tension was enhanced by the advert breaks that occured every 10 minutes, very much like how they broadcast dramas and action films on Channel 5 in the UK!

Of course much of the focus was on the race between the Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, as the Republican candidate McCain had more or less already won his party's nomination (which by the end of the night he had). In my case, I know a lot more about the American Presidential candidates, especially after these last few days in the US, than I know about the Members of Parliament in England. The political policies and the MPs themselves that are discussed in the run-up to the general elections generally seem quite similar to me, and more middle-ground. I know I don't pay enough attention to politics, but it seems to me that part of the reason why the American Presidential race has caught so much attention is that the Democratic candidates are so different from the typical upper-middle class white male. There's an excitment that even I, as a non-American, can sense when the politics are being discussed, and the feeling that the US might be ready for a big change. Granted, we have had Margaret Thatcher (though most of my generation is too young to remember Britain when she was PM) and the UK politicans seem to be getting younger, and less distant from our generation of voters. In England, we perhaps need a 'youth vote push' similar to that being driven on the other side of the Atlantic. Many of my peers are not so aware of any major differences between our political parties, and I have to confess that I myself have only voted once in any election (I'm only 23!).

Last night, when half of the votes in Ohio had been counted, the Clinton supporters were already celebrating (Clinton had 57% of the votes), which made me wonder what would happen if Obama won after all! But what did strike me when Hillary Clinton came out and made a speech, is the sheer energy and enthusiasm that was present, not only in her, but in the supporters around her. A similar aura was present when Barack Obama spoke in front of his supporters, but oddly, although I could sense the charisma that Obama clearly has, I don't feel quite the same conviction and confident strength I sense from Hillary Clinton. But of course, different people will differ from my view, which is clearly evident from the way the country appears to be split in their voting for these two candidates!

What makes me wonder is, how will they work together when the Democratic Presidential candidate has been chosen as one of them, and the other has to step down gracefully? Although at the moment I agree that there doesn't seem to be any bad blood as such, and no personal feelings hurt, it looks like the race is getting dirty. But maybe they will be professional enough to put aside their differences in the end. After all, they must remember that they are in the same party, when all is said and done.

PS - For those of you who are interested, but haven't checked yet, Clinton DID win Ohio, with 54% to Obama's 44% of the votes. And she won Texas with 51% to 48% for Obama. This should be an interesting few months....