Book Titles We're Likely To See

It'll be book reading season before you know it. Here's a couple of titles that may catch your eye.

Obama - The Audacity to Hope

George W Bush - Not a Hope

2008 United States Presidential Candidates

I'd like to give my opinion, for what it's worth, on the 2008 US Presidential candidates.

Barack Obama - He's a very charismatic and caring person. So what is he doing in politics you may ask? I don't care that he's an African-American (in the truest sense) or that he was a Muslim. You don't have a lot of choice when you are younger and your parents generally choose the religion you will follow. Personally I don't care that he is a Christian. I'm disappointed to hear that he's tried marijuana and cocaine but even moreso that he's a protectionist. His protectionist ideas stifle free trade and protect inefficient industries and the result is people paying too much for goods that are too expensive to create. Sure you protect your local manufacturers but at cost to the other countries of the world and to your own people. Bad idea. Other than that I think that he's a decent candidate for the presidency. Can't see him surviving an assassination attempt, actually.

John McCain - He's quite old and prone to bouts of cancer. That can't be good for someone who is responsible for arguably the most powerful country in the world for 24 hours a day for at least four years. The phrase, "Only a heartbeat away" springs to mind. He's a free trade advocate and I like that.

Joseph Biden - I'm sorry, who?

Sarah Palin - only last week I would have asked the same question as for Joe Biden. Who? But she's had a fair bit of publicity recently. America, are you serious? With an elderly president you'd seriously consider having a future president with only a few years of grounding in political goings on? How many tough decisions has she had to make as Governor of Alaska? Her first son is called Track - was she expecting twins so that the other could be called Field? Maybe that had something to do with the marijuana that she's admitted to using. I'm not enamoured with the fact that she attended six colleges in six years either. Perhaps that shows, in her early life at least, that she was a bit fussy and ill-advised and did too many things on a whim rather than utilising proper planning and sticking to it. Is she a pitbull or a pig? You don't have to be a bitch in politics if you are a woman and thankfully she doesn't come across as that. I do think that with a four month old son she should be spending more time looking after him than being second in charge of the country. Her boy would be neglected if that were the case.

Is America ready for a black (half) president? Or will they vote for the old war veteran? Obama will probably improve the lot of his own people more than anyone else so he would get the nod. At least he would from me. But I can't vote. And don't get me started on the shortcomings of the US presidential voting system.