Saturday 8 February 2014

Repordem

As one who looks forward to living with his American wife in America in the not too distant future I thought I had better try to understand the politics of my future nation . I used to listen to Alastair Cooke -Letter from America and gained a lot from that but as far as I can see this is the way it is.
In UK there is basically no difference between the politicians so I am trying to understand the American party system .
There are Republicans and Democrats .The present occupant of the White House is Democrat but there have been Republican Presidents as well . So far so good .
The Democrats and the Republicans are different and there is an election due in 2016. No president can serve more than two terms. If I have read it right the next Democratic contender (why does it sound like a boxing match?) will be Mrs Clinton .If she is elected she will be the first lady President. Mr Clinton who has been president will be by her side except she gets to sit in the swing chair in the Oval Office and Mr Clinton will be there to advise her and tell her where everything is, which is useful. I think as an outsider that she will probably get elected for two reasons.

1 She is a lady. She will get a lot of the female vote. Unless the Republicans put forward a female candidate maybe someone like Sarah Palin. Now don't shoot me down I am looking in from the outside. Maybe that anyone who has had to govern a tough place like Alaska and do it with a smile can handle most things. So there is a possibility that my two reasons may get reduced to one.

2 My second reason for thinking that Mrs Clinton may get elected is that there is a third party.
The third Party is the Tea Party .Now the last time the Brits had this problem was when y'all threw our jolly nice tea into Boston Harbour . There was no milk or sugar added which as every Englishman knows is the way one drinks tea . From this iced tea was born. Though I would advise against drinking the water from Boston Harbour
 Anyway the Tea Party, it looks like to me will split the Republican Party vote. So whereas more people may vote for the Republican Party and The Tea Party combined the Democrats may get more votes for their party.This is where I start to get lost .

 If I was in America I would support either the Democrats,the Republicans ,or the Tea Party (I put them in Alphabetical Order not in order of preference)
I am still trying to understand The Electoral College which can swing the balance. There appear to be states that are only Democrat like California or States which are only Republican like Texas and there are swinging states which can go either way.  
I have a lot to learn but just think it could be worse, you could have an Emperor or dictator but that could not happen in America - could it ? Please take good care of my future country not just for me but for your children as well. I still Remember Mr Lincolns statement "that government of the people, for the people by the people should not perish from the face of the earth."