Sometimes it's good to come last It's funny how things work out. Not so long ago, American States were clambering over themselves to hold their Primaries as early as possible - lest the winners emerge before they got the chance to influence the outcome. It's a decision that may still prove costly for Democrats in Florida and Michigan.

Yet, as we head into yet another Super Tuesday, the race between Clinton and Obama is still way too close to call. No-one expected it to be quite as exciting as this - which, in itself, is pretty impressive, seeing as expectations in the excitement stakes have always been pretty high.

So, while many people expected the tardy Ohio and Texas Primaries to be too late to matter - they might just end up being the most important of all.

Labels: Election 2008, Politics

¶ 1:17 PM 0 comments

Bank Holiday randomness As both a francophile and an election junkie, you can imagine how excited I was about the second round of the French presidential elections this weekend. Even though the whole thing did pan out exactly as the opinion polls predicted - resulting in a level of suspense akin to that of an episode of Postman Pat.

So this - and having a bit too much time on my hands - led me to ponder the question: what if we weren't allowed to publish opinion polls during an election campaign?

The thought was originally inspired by my rather shallow desire for more election night excitement. But then I started to think slightly more seriously about how we might view a campaign differently if we had no clear perception of a 'front runner'. Would we listen more to the campaign issues if the polls weren't there to distract us? Would more people vote for the smaller parties if the poll numbers didn't make them look like a lost cause?

What do you reckon?

Labels: Politics

¶ 5:44 PM 0 comments

2008: Elections 2.0? Last year's mid-terms in the States were dubbed the 'YouTube Elections' due to the way candidates targeted younger voters with online videos. So it's not surprising that next year's presidential hopefuls are taking things a step further, as this article from The Politico explains.

John Edwards is on MySpace, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube as well as his main site. Mitt Romney gives you the opportunity to join 'Team Mitt' and invite your friends - and watch 'MittTV' videos. Hillary Clinton is advertising for 'Guest Bloggers'. Dennis Kucinich even has a map on which supporters can pin themselves and interact with each other.

Just a few reasons why this campaign looks set to be the most interesting we've seen in a long time.

Labels: Politics, Web 2.0

¶ 3:17 PM 0 comments