OBAMA WINS

[Mary]

I am so happy that this was the result this morning when i woke up. It was such an important election that the people did get out and vote - over 70% of Americans voted!!!

 

I do not expect change right away since it took Bush 8 years to get us this way - but I am please and hopeful now!!

[Shelley]

And what about that California?? My state pushed it over.

[Mary]

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[observer]

I'm very pleased for you guys and don't wish to rain on your parade BUT: with what was possibily the finest, most professional political campaign ever, which resulted in a record turn-out, with folk queueing for hours to vote; he only managed around 51% of the vote. It was noticable, that aside from this 50-50, split; the political colour of the Republican States roughly resembled a map of the old Confederacy. I just hope this new President will survive the assasin's bullet, the resistance of Wall St and the machinations of the military-industrial complex, to complete two terms.

[Bazj]

I still can't work out why one state like california gets to have 55 votes and another like wyoming which is about half the size only gets 3.

 

Bit of a foregone conclusion if you manage to secure california, florida and texas if you ask me!

[observer]

It supposed to reflect population differentials, but it's clearly a distortion, as in most States, the vote is "first past the post"; thus the runner up votes arn't counted - thus the electoral college vote showed a wide margin, when in reality the popular vote was within 3% of each other. This is being hailed as an historic vote for a "black" President; the reality has more to do with the rejection of 8 years of an incompetant and belligerent Republican Administration, sealed by the advent of the economic recession.

[Bazj]

Well lets hope that we can repeat the same and get rid of our own incompetant and belligerent NuLabour Administration sometime soon, and get that sealed by the advent of the economic recession.

[observer]

Problem is Baz; the alternative is even worse - you've a choice between the real or the pseudo - Tories.

[Mary]

The thing is based on population - electoral votes - Wyoming has very few people compared to California.

[observer]

..... and all the lefty liberals live on the West Coast!

[asperity]

Problem is Baz; the alternative is even worse - you've a choice between the real or the pseudo - Tories.

 

How any administration could be worse than the one we've got now would take some doing!!

[Bazj]

The thing is based on population - electoral votes - Wyoming has very few people compared to California.

 

So why not just give everyone a vote and count them rather than allowing one person to sweet talk the states with the biggest electoral colleges?

[Bazj]

Problem is Baz; the alternative is even worse - you've a choice between the real or the pseudo - Tories.

 

 

I was actually thinking that any alternative IS an alternative..... NuLabour are just so bloody smug about the whole thing in a sort of "we don't really like Gordon; but the alternative is that we will all be out of work so we will put up with him until 2010 and hope things get better for us and in the meantime we will try and get as much out of it as we can for ourselves and leave the Tories with a right mess to put right and then we can slag them off from the opposition benches" kind of way

 

I keep seeing and hearing all the ministers on radio and TV all saying now how Gordon is the right man for the job etc. Lets see how they do in Glenrothes tonight because surely he can't keep fobbing off all of these by election pastings?? Surely they have to get the message? the public don't "want us to get on with the job of getting Britain back on track" (aren't you fed up of that line as well??)

 

We want you to call a general election Brown and bugger off all unemployed back to Scotland and take all the Scottish Labour MPs with you!

[wolfie]

Having left office with a bigger debt than we have at present even after all the extra borrowing, what makes you think that we can expect the Tories to put things right.

[Lt Kije]

Well put Wolfie

The trouble is most people have short memories

[observer]

Actually Baz; you epitomise the main problem; we get fed up with Labour, then swing to the Tories, then get fed up with them and swing back again - now you could argue that minor Parties will never secure Power, thus folk keep voting for the big two; BUT, until folk break the mould and start voting for who they think has the best answers, rather than who they think can win, we'll never really have a representative democracy.

[P J]

Problem is Baz; the alternative is even worse - you've a choice between the real or the pseudo - Tories.

 

 

I was actually thinking that any alternative IS an alternative..... NuLabour are just so bloody smug about the whole thing in a sort of "we don't really like Gordon; but the alternative is that we will all be out of work so we will put up with him until 2010 and hope things get better for us and in the meantime we will try and get as much out of it as we can for ourselves and leave the Tories with a right mess to put right and then we can slag them off from the opposition benches" kind of way

 

I keep seeing and hearing all the ministers on radio and TV all saying now how Gordon is the right man for the job etc. Lets see how they do in Glenrothes tonight because surely he can't keep fobbing off all of these by election pastings?? Surely they have to get the message? the public don't "want us to get on with the job of getting Britain back on track" (aren't you fed up of that line as well??)

 

We want you to call a general election Brown and bugger off all unemployed back to Scotland and take all the Scottish Labour MPs with you!

 

well now that we have seen how they stormed to victory in Glenrothes what now Baz

[Bazj]

Exactly Lt, short memories indeed.... it was only a few decades ago that Germany was dropping bombs on us, sections of the French population were collaborating against us and now you want them to be our rulers and masters!!

[observer]

Not sure, with a 4,000 drop in support and 5% swing to the SNP; that "storming" is the right word PJ; but it shows that cattle generally return to the barn for milking, eventually! It also shows the fickle nature of the electorate, and the fact that the neo-Tory chickens shouldn't be counting their chickens before they hatch in 2010.

[P J]

It was a totally surprise result by all accounts and went completely against the trends for recent by elections. The Tories and the Lib Dems lost their deposits I see. I wonder if the interest rate drop had anything to do with the result?

[Paul Kennedy]

My guess is that L/D and to a lesser extent Conservative voters voted SNP.

 

Glenrothes was a very good result for Labour, their own people were taken aback given that they expected to lose. Amazing really given that just a couple of months ago Mr Brown's leadership was under serious threat....and what has saved him, a Prime Minister's worst nightmare, financial meltdown and recession.

 

All goes to show how volatile the political situation is in the UK, ebbing and flowing as it is between Labour and the Conservatives.

[observer]

We've got more doom and gloom to come with increasing unemployment - not sure the Brown bounce will work then?!

[Lt Kije]

Baz

 

How far back do you want to go We used to burn Catholics and own slaves

[observer]

Interesting that Trevour Phillips has jumped on this bandwagon, saying that "institutional racism" will not allow us to have a black PM, adding that it probably won't allow opportunity for women and working-class folk - well, he's probably right. In the UK, under our archaic system, we elect Parties not individuals, the Parties select candidates and no doubt now employ positive discrimination to get the percentages right, thus ticking the boxes rather than electing on popular merit. Obama was clearly the best candidate based on ability (regardless of race), and this was recognised by 52% of the electorate, thus he was elected on merit, not some form of patronising positive descrimination.

[observer]

PS> interestingly; Labour Party Members in Warrington didn't have the opportunity of selecting a black person, nor indeed a male person - which meant that niether did the electorate. So perhaps we should adopt the US system of primary contests - and letting everyone decide on their prefered candidate for each Party?!