Tuesday 8 January 2008

And my preferred candidate is...

apparently Dennis Kucinich. Like a few other Lib Dems (most of whom also seem to be natural Kucinich supporters, even if like me they'd probably vote for someone else if they had a vote), I took this quiz and my results are as follows:

87% Dennis Kucinich
85% Mike Gravel
77% Chris Dodd
76% Joe Biden
76% Barack Obama
73% Hillary Clinton
72% John Edwards
72% Bill Richardson
36% Rudy Giuliani
35% Ron Paul
30% John McCain
23% Mike Huckabee
23% Mitt Romney
12% Tom Tancredo
12% Fred Thompson

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

I'm slightly surprised that Barack came out just ahead of Hillary, as she is someone I do have a great deal of respect for, even if I don't always agree with her. But having had a look at Barack's website yesterday (yes, I am that sad!) it's clear that if he was a British politician, he'd almost certainly be a Lib Dem. There was very little on there that I'd disagree with, and most differences would be a matter of me wanting to go further, faster.

It's also clear that Barack has managed to inspire quite a lot of people in the last few weeks, although whether he can translate his charm and appeal in the personal 'retail' politics of Iowa and New Hampshire to the more media-based 'wholesale' politics needed to do well in Super Tuesday and in the general election remains to be seen. I would also question whether his often visionary rhetoric (which often reminds me of Tony Blair, which is not a good thing) is enough or whether he needs to demonstrate a bit more substance in his campaign, rather than just relying on being a likeable candidate.

Barack has been a breath of fresh air in the often jaded world of American politics and might well be able to snatch the Democratic nomination from Hillary. But whichever of them does get it stands a very good chance of becoming the first serving member of the US Senate to be elected as President since John F Kennedy in 1960. And either of them would be miles better than any Republican.

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