McCain pollster reckons it's not over!

I've just heard on Newsnight a Republican pollster saying to Jeremy Paxman that if McCain lost the popular vote (by two percentage points he reckons) but takes the Electoral College, then McCain would be happy to be president. Paxman thought this a bit rich, but the pollster said "it's how the game is played".

Now, as I contemplate bed, does it all come down to being a game? The worst case scenario for American politics is precisely this conundrum. A president esconced in the White House with the help of the Electoral College in defiance of the popular mandate. The crafty Founding Fathers, themselves not given much to democracy, were keen to promote freedom at the expense of democracy. Ever since, it seems to me that American history is about Democracy trying to find equality with Freedom. I find it very peculiar that in the modern United States there have to be Zimbabwean type lines in order to cast a ballot. Surely the powers-that-be can rustle up a few more polling places? Freedom to vote but a struggle for democracy!

My hope that Obama wins is that for Americans they will get a new broom to sweep aside the corporate abuses, the manifestation of government corruption, and the denial of easy ballot access. Freedom for the average person to count in the process.

I hope it is a clean win, but apparently there are bevvies of lawyers waiting to pounce should a hanging chad be found. An Obama win should be some sort of guarantee that this will be cleaned up. After all, as the BBC is saying, we (meaning the British) don't have a vote, but it affects us anyway. And France and Germany and Canada and Mexico and..........................

Ron Paul endorses Chuck Baldwin

Ron Paul has come out and endorses Chuck Baldwin! Here is part of what he said.

"The Libertarian Party Candidate admonished me for “remaining neutral” in the presidential race and not stating whom I will vote for in November. It’s true; I have done exactly that due to my respect and friendship and support from both the Constitution and Libertarian Party members. I remain a lifetime member of the Libertarian Party and I’m a ten-term Republican Congressman. It is not against the law to participate in more then one political party. Chuck Baldwin has been a friend and was an active supporter in the presidential campaign.

I’ve thought about the unsolicited advice from the Libertarian Party candidate, and he has convinced me to reject my neutral stance in the November election. I’m supporting Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate."

So now it's moving on time. Ron Paul Republicans either vote Republican, Constitution, Libertarian or just stay at home. They may just vote for Obama. But the vote is split whatever happens.

Read more here at Reason.com

Ron Paul Hosts Third Party Press Conference

Ron Paul decides it's "a plague on both your houses"!

Ron Paul has decided that neither McCain or Obama are going to cut the mustard when it comes to changing things. Instead, he endorsed the presidential candidates for all (somewhat reasonable in size) third parties. He asked all his supporters, and Americans in general, to vote for one of these candidates, not for the leaders of either political party.

After he read the statement, Paul went on to talk about the two major political parties and the current political debate in the United States, and the two-party system in general. “I’ve come to the conclusion,” Paul said, “that presidential elections turn out to be a charade more than anything else. The endless discussion that goes on for ever… and all the talk about things that are unimportant… it just goes on and on and you just think about all this talk on television pretending there is this great difference… and really, when you look at it, there is no difference - because they do not address this subjects. We have other candidates … that disagree with the other candidates and… the important thing here is ‘who is the majority?’”

“There is no doubt in my mind,” he went on to say, “that the majority is on our side. We represent the majority of the American people. 60% of the American people are unhappy with their choice.”

I get the impression that McCain and Obama together will be lucky to get 40% of the America people to vote for them. It is a great pity that for many in the US democracy passes them by. Much the same as in the UK. Anybody ask us if we wanted acres abolished?

Ron Paul says It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over

Ron Paul's approach to politics is fairly simple. Keep to the message, be friendly to your opponents, and believe in the Constitution. The fact that a hell of lot of people think the same way has run through the present political establishment like a hot knife through butter. They are still keen to extinquish all this fervour if they can. Rubbish Ron on the TV, kick up a stink in the papers, and try to run rings round him in Congress. Poor deluded fools that they are! They are like King Canute sitting on the beach trying to hold back the waves.

This is the year that change will happen. The warmongers, the city spivs, the corrupt and the craved, all will be quaking in their boots come November - or at least they should be.

Ron Paul remains an official GOP candidate and has about $5 million in the bank, and a mighty band of fanatical followers. That should cause the GOP high command to think. Well, it does, actually. How can we stop this troublesome man? Seems history is repeating itself over and over. A bit like that record in the opening scenes of Al Pacino's 1989 film, Sea of Love - "Do you remember the sea of love"?

Speaking to Newsweek, Paul was as frank as ever. Ask a simple question and you get the simple truth. "What are your feelings toward Bob Barr?" Newsweek asks. "We're pretty friendly. We're allies, he's a good friend. He has called me a couple times recently, so it's very cordial." Newsweek sniffs a sensation coming! "Even though he has been targeting your supporters?" Sounds like they can't believe the answer. "I can't blame him. I'm sure that's his goal". And Ron Paul gives a little laugh.

We've had so much corruption, so much spin and deception, that journalists are primed to detect the smallest suggestion of devious behaviour. When given straight answers, they get all confused. How sad!

My gut feeling, and it's as cerebrally challenged as that, is that the largest constituency currently in American politics is the third party/independents group. The big question is - will they act as a cohesive block, or just go into several directions at once? Only time will tell.

Venturing out for Ventura?

I saw Jesse Ventura a couple of days ago on Larry King's CNN show. Jesse was one good form. Talking a lot of sense and speaking with a directness that some other political persons lack. He was up against a couple of seasoned characters who were more or less for the status quo. Jesse told King that he was considering running for the US Senate. What I missed, or they never talked about, was the guy he could replace. None other than Senator Norm Coleman, the man who took on, and was bested by, George Galloway. George showed Norm no respect, and it seems Jesse won't either. Well, in Jesse's case, it may be more a matter of settling scores over the war, keeping tabs on the spending, and getting Congress' nose out of people's lives.

I sense a powerful tide in America this year for such policies. John McCain is stratching around in the Republican chicken coop trying to look like the candidate who will keep the status quo in safe hands. He wants the lobbyists on side, the analysts to stay analysing, and the spending kept in the hands of the few. Barack Obama will be his challenger. Hillary is a bit like the last guest at the wedding feast who stays on for the leftovers and won't let the bride get away with the groom! She has said a few things, though. One is that Obama won't be able to court the white working class voters. Now there she might be right. I'd say pity to that, but politics is a cruel sport indeed. Just ask John Major, or more topically, Gordon Brown!

So we have McCain operating in a lacklustre way to keep the Republican tent in an upright position, Obama trying to fend off Hillary with one hand and gather around as many of the disaffected with the other. Could both lose out to a middle way candidate? Bob Barr is on the warpath. Jesse Ventura is keeping his powder dry for a big bang on filing day in Minnesota. Ron Paul has an army of enthusiastic volunteers, all far more excited about the election that McCain's troops ever will be. What of the third run? Ventura came through as Governor on only a bit more than a third of the vote. It's not impossible for the presidency.

My guess is that when the final Democratic primaries are over, even if Hillary is still in, the third party movers will be shaking. If they can get around a common cause candidate, then that person could really shake, rattle and roll!