Paul Ryan: The deer hunter who would be president

“Once there were two brothers. One ran away to sea, the other was elected Vice-President, and nothing was ever heard of either of them again.” That witty quote came from Thomas R. Marshall, who just happened to be US Vice-President for two terms (1913-1921) under Woodrow Wilson. In his early years, he took to drink, …

Let the Political Games begin

“I was very involved in the McCain campaign, and I love McCain a lot. But I never felt this good about our chances four years ago.” That was Brian Ballard, a co-chairman of Mitt Romney’s finance team, talking to the New York Times about the Republican candidate’s chances of beating Barack Obama in the November …

The Diggers’ light shines in the darkness

“The dive bombers and the zeros came so low, you could see the pilots’ faces as they dropped their bombs.” Reporter: “You can remember seeing their faces?” “Yes, I can still see it, yes. I didn’t recognise any of them. It was the same mob that did over Pearl Harbor, the same Japanese fleet.” That …

A Super Tuesday with Jimmy Breslin

Super Tuesday became Mediocre Tuesday, or Predictable Tuesday, according to US pundits this week. Mitt Romney won six states, including the bellwether, Ohio, but impressed nobody, except himself. Rick Santorum took Oklahoma, Tennessee and North Dakota, and came close in Ohio, blessed by evangelical voters, but is nowhere near the Holy Grail. Newt Gingrich easily …

Mitt sets the scene for another Super Tuesday

It was Super Tuesday in America yesterday, and Mitt Romney was the winner. Wait a minute, you say, it’s not Super Tuesday until next week when ten States hold their primaries and caucuses in the Republican presidential race to choose a nominee to take on Barack Obama in November. Yes, but that’s a different Super …

Newt’s rocky road to the White House

My cousin’s wife, Ann, a very intelligent aficionado of politics, who lives in Washington, wrote in her Christmas card that if I was planning a trip to the US, I should “come before Newt is president.” I assumed she was joking but that was before last weekend’s result in the South Carolina primary where the former …

King for a day in the New South

“My brother Jack does not come into the story straight away. Nobody ever does, of course, because a person doesn’t begin to exist without parents and an environment and legendary tales told about ancestors and dark dusty vines growing over outhouses where remarkable insects might always drop out of hidden crevices.” That’s the opening paragraph …

The US presidential hunt: a long and pheasant season

America’s quadrennial political merry-go-round has finally begun in earnest and the results of the opening skirmish in the US presidential nominating season – the Iowa caucuses -- will be announced next Wednesday morning Australian time. Since President Barack Obama has already launched his re-election campaign, the only race that really matters in the mid-western state …