The first debate between the 2 contenders ended in mostly a draw. Different media are reporting different winners, so you can guess as to how balanced the discussion was. Well, actually, both these contenders are seen to be great speakers, they know their points by now and so do their audiences. In such a close fight, it is almost impossible for either of them to say anything new or radically different from what they have spoken before, so even though the debate was interesting, it was abundantly clear that the debate would not have any clear winners. So, for example, if you take this CNN Report, it mentions that Obama was slightly higher in terms of a perceived debate winner, but not by too much, and the poll had more Democrats than Republicans.

Men were nearly evenly split between the two candidates, with 46 percent giving the win to McCain and 43 percent to Obama. But women voters tended to give Obama higher marks, with 59 percent calling him the night’s winner, while just 31 percent said McCain won. “It can be reasonably concluded, especially after accounting for the slight Democratic bias in the survey, that we witnessed a tie in Mississippi tonight,” CNN Senior Political Researcher Alan Silverleib said. “But given the direction of the campaign over the last couple of weeks, a tie translates to a win for Obama.”

continue reading "First debate between McCain and Obama: No clear winners"

Now that he has sewn up the Democratic Presidential nomination, it is time for Obama to reduce the gap between himself and McCain over national security grasp and credentials. McCain is a former military man with a distinguished service record, and has served a 5 year prisoner of war imprisonment. He has been involved in his elected Senator terms with national security and armed matters, and boasts of an impeccable record. Obama does not have any such record, and is too young (one-term senator) to boast of any kind of credentials for national security (other than having consistently opposed the Iraq war in the past). A first such attempt was made by the Obama camp to question whether McCain really has a qualified military record, but that attempt got burned. So, now this is the next step, where Obama goes to Afghanistan to review the situation over there, to meet military officials and to get a feeling for the situation:

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama met today in Kabul with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has been criticized by the Illinois senator for failing to reduce corruption in the nation’s government. The meeting at the presidential palace lasted more than one hour and was followed by a lunch, according to Karzai spokesman Siamac Herawi. The two discussed a range of issues, including “U.S.-Afghan cooperation to defeat terrorism, the root causes of terrorism, Afghanistan’s achievements in recent years and the way forward,” Herawi said.

continue reading "Obama meets Karzai in Afghanistan"

The saga of the Democratic primary contest for the Presidential election of 2008 now passes into history, but it will be something that will be remembered for a long time. People still remember the 1968 Democratic convention, and it even finds a mention in novels and books on varying topics. Similarly, this contest will be remembered for a long time, even more so because a number of new events came up in this particular convention – the first major US presidential primary where an African-American and a female candidate were the prime contenders and where the white male candidates lost out early. This primary can be seen as a major event in the political history of the United States, but the whole story is not yet over. There is still the small matter of what will happen in the Presidential election, and whether this is the year when the US will see an African-American becoming the President of the United States.
Back to the title, after a long and bitterly contested primary, Hillary Clinton finally gave in and announced the end of her campaign, promising to work for the success of the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama for whom she promised to ‘work my heart out’ for the election. She urged her supporters to support Obama fully and ensure his victory in the election. The fight had gone on for 17 months, and in the end, must have been very disappointing for Hillary since she was leading in the beginning before the primary season started in January, and watched her lead slipping away in a series of upsets.

continue reading "Hillary Clinton announces support for Obama"

Hillary Clinton gave it all she could, but she was just unable to stand against the fresh wave that was manifested in the form of a newbie Senator, Barack Obama. One considers that Hillary would have made a better President (in spite of her moving to pure populism over the fuel tax removal issue); she has made her position known on the different areas that affect the US, and her positions are mostly thought through positions on issues that are impossible to solve easily. But she has tried to avoid grand-standing, and one needs to give her that. Now Obama, he seems like a person who could bring society together (does anybody really believe that polarised Democrats and Republicans will come together even for a person holier than Obama ?), somebody who addresses the belief of so many educated and young Americans that they need a person who is not tainted with the politics as usual. And so, the people with Hillary keep on leaving her as they see her as a sinking ship:

continue reading "Hillary should go now .."