Real Gist

Can you believe this! - As soon as I return to London everything happens!!! The next couple of months will be interesting indeed….Will Hil be his running mate? Will Obama and Hil clash as team mates?

And what about the main arena “McCain Vs Obama”…the old war veteran versus young blood? Who will be the strongest?

Lots of questions on everyones lips!! Oh I do miss the US!

It’s only been a minute that David Paterson became governor of New York and already political sex scandals have been filling the pages of New York newspapers.

I was supposed to write about this yesterday but due to my “free” internet time being cut I’ve had to resort back to spending time at the internet cafe. Anyway if you look at my old post: March, 3rd post

Towards the end I write “Let’s hope Paterson, if he becomes NY governor, keeps his closet clean…”

Not that I’m gloating (well maybe), but my prediction was right. Are we living in a day and age where everyone is having affairs?…well I’d like to think not. But politicians revelations of affairs and ménage a trois’ (ex New Jersey Gov Jim McGreevey, his wife and an aide) are not helping the picture.

The historic moment of Paterson becoming the first African American Governor of New York has been swept a side and instead his personal life is the number one topic of discussion in the city.  Read more: www.nydailynews.com

But I believe that as long as Paterson’s personal life isn’t affecting his job at hand his personal life should be kept private but as we all know well politics and personal lives always intertwine especially when the media is concerned.

The twist in this scandal is that apparently Paterson’s wife began having an affair first which is why Paterson decided to have an affair himself with numerous women - not the best excuse.

Anyway, we now know the identity of one of the women Paterson had an affair with and coincidental the women in question works in his office. Actually I suppose it’s not coincidental because most affairs happen with people who they encounter on a daily basis, when you think about it we spend more time with our work colleagues in a working day than we do with our own families.  But that of course is no excuse to go out and have an affair.

I can see why he decided to speak out about the affair before the media got their hands on it and I hope his pledge to his new role proves his worth otherwise pundits will enjoy devouring him.

News outlets can be so cheeky…CNN’s headline - “The governor’s gal”. Well I can’t argue because it is the truth anyway…Read more: www.cnn.com

Will politicians ever learn from others mistakes? No.

While the fact that Obama winning the Mississippi primary goes fairly unnoticed. Governor Eliot Spitzer is on the front page of nearly every newspaper. Apparently FBI investigators are now investigating whether he used state money to pay for his rendezvous amounting up to $80,000.

Read more: www.nytimes.com

Something tells me that he wanted to be found out - politics has a history of politicians being exposed for their illicit affairs… Look at Bill Clinton, Rudy Guiliani (he was open about his affair) and others around the world. So why knowing this does Spitzer still take the risk - because he wanted to be found out. Or perhaps he thought he was so clever he wasn’t going to be found out - who knows.

Anyway if he resigns today (which I’m sure will happen) there is a possibility that New York will have its first Black governor, David Paterson.

Paterson is actually blind, he reminds me of UK politician David Blunkett who is also blind - but that‘s where the similarities end. Blunkett in fact resigned from his position as Home Secretary after he was exposed as fast-tracking a visa for the nanny of his ex-lover - he was actually having an affair with a married woman.

Let’s hope Paterson, if he becomes NY governor, keeps his closet clean…

That’s the big question - apparently commentators say, and I guess they’re right, the race will wind up towards the Democratic Convention in June.

Was this Hillary’s intention from the outset? Perhaps. Bill Clinton turned things around when he won his nomination bid right up too the Covention when he was running.

Nevertheless, there was no surprise that she won in Ohio and Texas because the polls were leaning in that direction anyway. To me the issue to look at is by how much did she win. She maintained a slight lead over him in Ohio (Clinton 54, Obama 44), and in Texas (Clinton 51, Obama 4 these results were very close. Let’s not forget the Texas caucus’ (separate from the Texas primary) the results are still being tallied which at the moment Obama is ahead - I think we’ll know the outcome by tomorrow.

But you know what, the results in Texas and Ohio reflected the general consensus there in the sense that they want change but with no risk. In Obama they see change but at a risk because of his inexperience but with Hillary they see change with experience. So I believe the results in those two states reflected that.

Last night’s race: www.nytimes.com

Clinton’s wins will give her the added boost she was looking for but it will not upset Obama’s momentum. Obama still has the popularity vote hands down and still maintains a slight lead in the number of delegates needed to win this race. Of course Clinton has secured enough delegates from last night to keep her in this race - so we can pretty much assume that this nomination could go either way.

In the Republican camp Mike Huckabee finally called it quits - that was way overdue - and of course John McCain is now the Republican nominee. He certainly has the upper hand as he goes into the final leg of this presidential race while unfortunately Clinton and Obama continue to battle it out.

Here it is - Super Tuesday round II! Will Obama deal the final knock out to Clinton or will Clinton take the title as the comeback kid? Who knows, but today Ohio and Texas decide…

Her every effort to diminish Barack Obama’s character looks like desperation. It’s not going in her favour and I think in general a lot of Americans are tired of these antics - I know I am.

Read more: www.nydailynews.com

Okay, so Clinton’s camp denies they had any involvement in leaking the photo - there’s nothing in the picture to rant about anyway. Believe me, the running of her campaign says a lot about the kind of leader she will make - courteous to your face (have you seen the fake grin) but behind your back watch out.

Their debate last week in Texas was quite amicable despite the xerox moment, she ended saying she was honoured to be sitting next to Obama. But wait - a couple days after she’s infront of the press lambasting him. It’s not that I’m on a “Get Hillary” agenda, however the way she has carried out her campaign hasn’t sat well with me at all, it’s been fickle.

Tonight is the final debate and I don’t think it’s going to be as friendly as last time. I think Hillary intends to throw some punches, particularly on trade and foreign policy. In my opinion as long as Obama performs as well as he did in the last debate his campaign will pretty much remain intact.

And if I’m correct, what pundits are now saying is that wins in Texas and Ohio for Hillary will not guarantee her getting the nomination anyway. She will not win by wide margins because polls show that voters are equally split in Texas and the gap in Ohio is narrowing too - all it will do is keep her in the race.

(You may not hear it clearly in this video but it’s actually boos that are heard after her Xerox comment - I’m sure some sites have muffled the sound) 

But you know what, the debate in Texas showed me just how evenly matched both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton really are. Whatever Clinton’s intentions were in this debate it certainly didn’t knock Obama because he came across very strong. Their responses on the economy, immigration, foreign policy, George Bush and Republican John McCain were pretty much the same. The only difference to me was their approaches in achieving universal health care.

Read more:www.nydailynews.com

It was interesting to watch them portray the kind of alliance they did in Texas - towards the end of the debate they shook hands and Hillary ended by saying she was honoured to be sitting next to obama. A lot of the media are talking about some of her final comments but to me her comments are so hypocritical when throughout her campaign she’s been bashing Obama.

The perceived alliance between the two does look good to voters and I think people are generally tired of the petty slanging matches but whether the good feelings between the two is true or not is another matter. Of course they’re both maintaining that perception for their own benefits but I guess when it comes down to the final leg with John McCain whoever is in that race will need the backing of the other so I suppose it pays to keep each other sweet.

Ten wins in a row so far for Barack Obama - Wisconsin, Hawaii and Washington are now under his belt. 

Read more:www.cnn.com

So what is Hillary Clinton thinking this morning? I can tell you my guess: “What can I do to stop this man?” You know when you have something on your mind you’ll go to sleep with it and then wake up with it, well I’m sure that’s the situation she’s in at the moment. But it’s probably been like that for the past couple of weeks.

If you noticed Obama was criticised for the lack of substance in his previous speeches but last night following the results of Wisconsin political pundits believed that his speech had substance along with his usual rhetoric - they believe he’s now in a prime position. Clinton’s speech in comparison they felt lacked substance, but I think these are probably tell tale signs that she’s beginning to feel the heat.

News reports of voting figures show that Obama’s taking small but significant chomps out of Clinton’s support base- just look at who’s voting for who, he still maintains the majority black vote but he’s also increased support from female and male white voters; and low income families.

So when the primaries in Texas and Ohio take place on March 4 it’s not going to be clear cut. The thing is democrats in Texas are equally divided about who to vote for so her only other option is Ohio. But then if you think about if the trend in Obama’s past primaries is anything to go by Clinton may be in for a fight there to.

The voters, in particulary delegates, that Obama has picked up along the way in smaller states has helped him - as the controlling supermarket chain Tesco slogan says “Every little bit helps”. The key big states like Texas and California do make differences but the little extras along the way are also key.

To me Obama has won this nomination, solely by the popularity vote and if the super delegates have to give their vote I believe they should base it upon what the nation has said. 

Read more at NY Times: here

Castro is stepping down with a plan in mind. He’s done so knowing that things will be handled as he would want them to be in his absence - he’s no fool. The fact that the trade embargo on Cuba will continue proves that the US believe this too…

Oh and I’m back in NY - I had a great time Down South, it’s given me the travel bug…