Why I can’t trust Donald Trump

I knew it was time to chill out when I got into an argument at the TAB – the local betting agency – over Donald Trump. All I said was I hope I have better luck with my bets on the races than my vote against Donald Trump. Out of the blue, a bloke I …

The 2013 Inauguration: Poems and Prayers and Promises

Four years ago I was in the Sky News Australia newsroom in Sydney watching Barack Obama’s first inauguration when the tears started to flow. Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, began to sing My Country, Tis of Thee to a million people gathered around the mall in Washington, and to millions of viewers around the …

From sea to shining sea, America hopes Obama works second-term magic

Election day started well. As I was waiting for the light to change on Market Street in the city, Mark Munro, a Channel Nine cameraman, waved to me from the window of his car and said: “Hi, Tom, I heard he’s about to win Florida. Is that true?” And I replied: “I hope so. I’m …

Memo to Obama: How can anyone forget Staten Islanders?

If I were Barack Obama, I would get on Marine One and fly to Staten Island as soon as possible. If he were, as he said, concerned not about the impact of Hurricane Sandy on the election, but its impact on families, he would be in Staten Island right now, helping the forgotten residents of …

Democrats hope Jersey bromance will push Obama over the line

It’s official: Halloween has been postponed in New Jersey. Although you’d think it was highly unlikely that trick-and-treaters dressed in ghost and goblin and skeletal costumes would be traipsing around in knee-deep flood waters, the Governor of the Garden State, Chris Christie, interrupted his conversations and walking tours with President Obama to declare in an …

Nixon revisited, as Obama and Romney go neck and neck

“No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.” That quote has been attributed to one of my favourite writers, HL Mencken, and I used to think it was a harsh assessment. Then Richard Nixon was re-elected as president of the United States in 1972 in a landslide against the liberal Senator …

Counter-puncher Obama wins the second round as Romney puts down Candy

It was the moment that Barack Obama won the second debate against Mitt Romney in Long Island. The President had answered a question from a member of the audience about who denied  enhanced security – and why -- at the US embassy in Libya when the ambassador and three of his staff were killed in …

Obama v Romney: The Not-So-Great Debate

If this were a three round Olympic heavyweight championship, Mitt Romney would be leading Barack Obama on points. But fortunately for the champion, there are still two rounds to go, and he’s the sort of fighter who likes to win, so he should be able to make a successful comeback. After watching the debate, I’d …

Obama’s sister: My big brother is a class act

“You can kid the world, but not your sister.” That’s a quote from the famous Canadian writer, Charlotte Gray, and it can easily apply to the maternal half-sister of President Barack Obama, Maya Soetoro-Ng. So the president may not be able to kid her, but fortunately they are very close, and they are both really …

Barack Obama: Take the long road with me

Last week, as a Democrat Abroad, I admitted I was worried about the US presidential election after the Republican National Convention. (http://wp.me/p1Ytmx-7H) Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan had pushed all the right buttons, Ann Romney gave a good would-be First Lady speech, and they even had a Hollywood star as a guest …