My mate Chase is in London for a semester, broadening his mind. He has been a great help to me in understanding how American politics works, and we have had many drunken conversations about how to make the world right.
It is great to know an American who is liberal, active in the political process and wants to serve in government. Plus he is cute as hell - so what's not to like?
Chase has been anxious about the very close Senate race in Missouri. Claire McCaskill, a kind of mid-West Hillary, fought a very strong campaign on the failures in Iraq and on other wedge issues like stem cell research. The campaign commercial made by Michael J Fox endorsing McCaskill caused some controversy, but it was also indicative of a positive change in Democrat campaigning. If the Republicans can throw around wedge issues like gay marriage to energise their base and conservative independents, then the Dems can do the same with social issues where a majority of Americans disagree with the religious right.
Chase need not have fretted that he was not back in his home state campaigning for his beloved Democrats. I felt his joy at McCaskill's stunning win, and felt the excitement of Hillary Clinton and new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi making victorious speeches about America's bright future.
It is something you have to love about Americans - they are always hopeful about the future. The Bush doctrine of security and fear has always sat uneasily on a people who want to feel hope. A little dash of the Kennedy/Clinton magic should sweep the Dems into the White House in 2008, as long as they keep the message positive.
