And now for something completely different...

posted by: Nick Lowles | on: Friday, 27 August 2010, 04:43

Breaking away from our campaign against the EDL in Bradford for a minute I have to say that I’m fascinated with American politics. Perhaps it is simply the lack of a language barrier, the apparent craziness of it all or simply that, as the world’s most powerful country, it matters – or more probably a combination of all three factors.

Obviously Obama and the Democrats are going into the November mid-term elections expecting a drubbing but the Republicans’ rapid move to the right might actually give them some hope. Much of this comes down to the Tea Party phenomenon, which is galvanising the grassroots of the party. It seems almost certain that Tea Party fan Joe Miller will win the Republican nomination in Alaska while in Arizona John McCain only just won his primary against a rightwing challenger but only after he tagged right at a rate of knots.

I’ll be writing a lot more about the US political scene over the next few weeks but here’s an interesting taster from an article from yesterday’s Washington Post to what is taking place:

“Liberals who saw Bush's presidency as a failed right-wing experiment thought Republicans would search for more moderate ground, much as Britain's Tories turned to the soothing leadership of David Cameron to organize their comeback. But this expectation overlooked the exodus of moderates over the last decade, which has shifted the balance of power in Republican primaries far to the right.

“...In the short run, the Republican lurch right has unleashed new energy in the party and helps explain why most polls show its supporters more enthusiastic than Democrats about this year’s elections. The Democrats’ chances of holding down their losses in November now depend heavily on whether they can generate a backlash against an increasingly immoderate GOP.”

You can find the rest of the article here: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/08/26/the_primary_differences_106895.html