Goodbye John and Rudy

Goodbye John Edwards and Rudy Giuliani - I'll miss you both - but for very different reasons...

I'll miss Rudy playing in the Republican Presidential race because, IMHO, he was the absolute worst of the bunch, and consequently I would have loved to have seen him get the nomination. I reckon any of the Democratic nominees could have beaten him soundly with their hands tied behind their back.

I suppose it's a good thing to see that the American people (or more accurately, the Republicans who've bothered to vote in the Primaries) weren't fooled by Rudy's "all 911, all the time - I was such a hero pleasevoteforme" schtick.

So I guess I'm rooting for Mitt now - seeing as I have a seriously low opinion of him too...

And now to John Edwards - who became my favourite of the Democratic candidates once I acknowledged that the very wonderful Al Gore wouldn't be throwing his hat into the ring. Ah, John, we'll miss you. You spoke truth to power - which is why those in power in the MSM did their damnedest to ignore you and pretend that you didn't exist.

Your representation of ordinary working people, and your way of standing up to corporate America and against lobbyists of all kinds impressed me greatly. I think you would have made a great President. I wish the media had given you a fair opportunity to express your views.

So now I'm supporting Obama. I think he's a magnificent orator, and a very charismatic man. His message of hope is inspiring many voters in America, especially the young. I don't believe that he can govern on hope alone - and I don't think he has a snowball's chance in hell of working with the opposition - they'll do everything they can to make that impossible - but if hope and the possibility of change is what people need right now, then he's certainly the man to give it to them.

I heartily approve of his stance against the War on Iraq - which he has held since the very beginning - although I'd like to see him promising to withdraw the troops immediately he takes office. I'm concerned about the amount of money he's taking from Big Pharma and the Medical Insurance industry - because that's going to need to be repaid, one way or another...

But in every way I can think of, I prefer him over Hillary Clinton - by about a million miles. Progressives can't stand her, and seeing as in American terms I'd be considered somewhat left of yer average progressive, I'm of the same mind.

The problem with Hillary is that she's far too divisive. People hate Hillary, and whether or not that's justified, that's the way it is. Between 40 and 45% of voters say they would never vote for Hillary, which is a bit of a worry, to say the least. I imagine that if she wins the nomination, Republicans (and maybe quite a few independents) will come out in their droves just to vote against her. She voted for the war and refuses to apologise for that vote, and for me that's unforgivable.

So here we are, with both races narrowing towards a two-person photo-finish. It'll be interesting to see what happens on Super Duper Tuesday. There's no way I'd even try to predict it for the Dems, although I'm pretty sure McCain will get it for the Repubs (as long as he doesn't keel over before then).

I'm crossing my fingers very tightly that Obama will prevail, and that (just to please me) he'll invite John Edwards to stand beside him as VP.

Obama/Edwards 2008 - now that'll do nicely...

Technorati tags: John Edwards, Rudy Giuliani, Barack Obama, Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, John McCain, American presidential primaries, Super Duper Tuesday, nomination, Democratic, Republican, Democrat, Repub, American politics, WebWeaver's World, webweaver.