US Election 2008

I've no prob with the thread - it was just that when I posted that, we'd had a whole page on US politics without any reference to TV pres!

But to be fair you did go on to make a political point against Bush.

CNN International is already simulcasting CNN US.

You've got to though haven't you! The man's a prize pillock!

CNN have certainly gone to some effort transforming their New York studio into the 'CNN Election Center'. Looks quite impressive - although not exactly easy on the eyes!

MSNBC have spruced up their new studio/newsroom at 30 Rock a little bit for tonight - a few flags on the walls, and election graphics on the big screens.

Only in America can an entire election campaign be stretched out to last an entire year, milked for all its worth and then argued over in a court of law because it may be invalid in Florida. Now that's odd.

Nice to see that she has done what her husband did,

also I dare say there will be a black man and a white woman in the White house,

one them will become the other running mate

Noticed that when AP called Hilary as the winner, and all the other networks soon followed, CNN held back because there hadn't been any votes in at that point from the main college towns, and the thought was that the youth vote would swing behind Obama and so it'd be still to close to call.

Must have felt like a good idea at the time, but then Obama got up on stage to concede, and of course suddenly on screen appeared a caption saying "CNN Projects Clinton Win" just in time for him to start speaking!

Nope, even at that stage Hillary was actually only one delegate behind Obama, its just her percentages were lower. She deployed a good tactic, she did less in Iowa, where the number of people per delegate is lower, and instead put more effort in in NH, where the number of people per delegate is higher. I am still sure that John Edwards will come out victorious on Super Tuesday.

It now stands:-
Obama 25 delegates
Rodham-Clinton 24 delegates
Edwards 18 delegates

(bearing in mind that this is out of over 3000 pledged delegates)

Romney 24 delegates
Huckabee 18 delegates
Mc Cain 10 delegates
Thompson 6 delegates
Paul 2 delegates
Hunter 1 delegate

John Edwards doesn't have a chance on Super Tuesday. It's going to be Clinton or Obama. I'm sure the final candidates will be Obama for President and Hillary for Vice, or the other way around.

I'd have thought they'd be more likely to opt for Edwards than their main rivals as Vice President.

I'm not sure Clinton would want it.

I don't want to be seen to be defending the American system - I agree it has its faults - but what we're seeing is a nation going through a very extensive process of democratically selecting their next leader. That's a bit of a contrast to the Westminster system - which I happen to like, personally - but you end up with a situation where, for instance, Gordon Brown becomes PM without a single Briton casting a vote for his leadership.

As far as the media coverage goes though - I've been impressed with what I've been seeing so far. There are two very open contests at the moment, and I suspect it's far easier for the media to cover these types of things when there's already a clear winner before the first votes get cast.