Victory in South Carolina - now on to Super Tuesday!

It's been a while since I posted, but I was really picked up last night by Barack Obama's stunning victory in South Carolina. With all the votes in from yesterday's Democratic Primary contest in this diverse state, made of loosely of 50% black people and 50% white people, the scale of Senator Obama's victory cannot be underestimated. The raw numbers:

Barack Obama: 295,091 (55%); Delegates Gained = 26.

Hillary Clinton: 141,128 (27%); Delegates Gained = 14.

John Edwards: 93,552 (18%); Delegates Gained = 8.

Yep, Hillary could have had twice as many votes and still lost! 8 of 10 black voters prefer the message of Barack Obama. And he picked up a quarter of all white votes, with Edwards and Clinton sharing the rest. Another amazing fact from this contest is that Obama won a majority of all the votes cast in the age range 18-64. Yep, working Americans believe in this man, young and old alike. It really represents a cross-generational message for change in the USA.

But it is the articulate nature of this desire for change, so ably personified in Barack's message that is frankly shocking and inspiring after watching 8 long years of banjo playing down on the farm idiot politics from the Bush regime. I keep saying it to everyone I know - look at Barack Obama and listen to him. If you can't see the Robert Kennedy in him, or the JFK in him, then I think you're not looking at the same guy I am. It is certainly evident enough to members of the Kennedy family. Last night, he picked up the endorsement of Caroline Kennedy, President Kennedy's daughter.

That endorsement says it all. Part of what is so inspiring about this man's campaign to become the leader of the United States is a very real sense that he could carry the flame of Camelot back into the White House, over 40 years after that flame was so cruelly extinguished in Houston, Texas. This is a chance for Americans to say to themselves and to the wider world that the ideals they voted for in JFK so long ago still stand and mean something important within the psyche of the American Dream. This is a chance for Americans to say, no more lies, no more slash 'n burn politics of the 90's and of this decade. No more Clinton-Bush monarchies, 20 years of two names, two families, running their country is quite enough. No more immoral wars, no more economic mismanagement, no more painful stories of not being able to pay medical bills because you don't earn upwards of $50,000 a year.

South Carolina said it. Barack Obama's saying it. I'm saying it. And a lot of my American friends are saying it: The time for change is now. Barack Obama is an agent of change you can believe in. And all you have to do is hold onto the audacity of hope.

I think and I hope, that America is waking up today to the fierce urgency of now.

For great coverage of this election campaign, I strongly recommend: CNN's Election Center 2008

C'mon New Hampshire!!!

Well, it's Barack fever in my house this week! He won Iowa - beautiful (which I predicted way before it become fashionable to be a Barackista), which is serving as a great springboard for him to get the message out that he is the bright hope for American government and politics.

New Hampshire - the world is watching and hoping you guys will see what we see in Obama - a politician, a leader of the highest calibre and integrity. This is a man who can bring peace and prosperity to both the USA and the wider world. He is also the only politician I know of who I can watch speak for hours at a time. Possibly the finest mind to ever run for the White House.

Good luck Barack - as well as millions of Americans, there are plenty of Brits, Europeans and others around the world who are willing you to victory! From a Labour Party member in England - go kick some ass man!

Obama For America...And Britain...And Everywhere Else...

America faces a decision in the next year, the most important decision it will face as a nation in generations. Who will be their next President?

Usually, for most people, this thought is followed by a long yawn and the sad realisation that yet again, even in the greatest democracy in the world, the only two people on the list are unrepresentative, corrupt blowhards who will guarantee four more years of the same old left-right, pointless, negative politics.

Well, not this time. A wonderful chain of events, not least of which is the fact that neither George Bush, or Dick Cheney are running for the Presidency means that we can breath one hell of a sigh of relief. Eight years is all the world could possibly cope with from these two warmongering evildoers.

American Democrats have the most wonderful opportunity of all, especially Iowans tomorrow, to make the cleanest break from the last 40 years of US politics. They have the chance to choose to support Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or John Edwards. Any of these three will of course be a vast improvement.

I ask Iowans, and Americans however, not to vote for Clinton or Edwards. Vote for Barack Obama. He would be a President with more intellect than anyone since Roosevelt's 4-term spectacular, a President with more vision than even the great JFK, and a President who could heal the scars of American domestic and foreign policy as well as Lincoln did in the 19th Century. America - Iowa - you have heard what this man has to say. Don't vote for him because of the shallow reasons of race and image. Vote for him because he is truly the person best equipped to do the job of leading the United States back to a era of peace and prosperity.

A vote for Obama is the just plainly and simply the right thing to do. The rest of the world is watching and hoping you guys get it right this time!

OBAMA FOR AMERICA