Obama’s foreign mistake?
When one of my students told me that Barack Obama was planning a foreign tour during the summer of election year I thought I’d misheard him. American presidents rarely visit Europe, never mind presidential candidates. But the exercise designed to make him look more presidential may prove to be a tactical error
read more...»Running mate profiles
Further to my posting about the possibility that McCain will release news of who his running mate is going to be, I have come across a great guide in the New York Times to potential running mates
US elections update: McCain-Jindal 08?
Speculation mounts that John McCain will try to grab back some of the media attention that has been draped over Barack Obama’s foreign visits this week by announcing his running mate.
read more...»McCain’s Hispanic difficulty
Earlier this summer I wrote an article for tutor2u’s first past the post magazine entitled ‘Raw Hispanic Power?’ which spotlighted the potential role Hispanics could play in this year’s presidential contest. This week’s Economist contains a story which updates us on how John McCain and Barack Obama are doing in courting the Hispanic vote
read more...»American Politics “homework”
Following the US elections closely over the summer should be an exercise that will bear fruit for students of US Politics
read more...»How big are John McCain’s?
And we’re not talking oven chips
read more...»Stimulus package
Another video from the barely political gang
read more...»McCain’s mating game
Speculation continues about who will join the presumptive Republican nominee on the ballot in November
read more...»Politics Categories
Bush’s religion
The forgotten man’s faith
In today’s Sunday Times there is a fascinating excerpt from a new book on George W Bush which provides an analysis of the president’s faith and how it has affected his politics.
The hypothesis presented in the article is based on the idea that Bush has used evangelism for political reasons.
One of the defining aspects of George W Bush’s presidency is his professed belief in God. Yet what really are his religious beliefs? The question, which seems central to understanding his presidency, never receives a satisfactory answer. Indeed, one religious figure close to him soon after his conversion was shocked to find that he talked about sex rather than theology and says that a lot of his faith seemed to be politically calculated.
Bush’s religion has often been described as evangelical. But unlike most other evangelicals, he blithely uses profanity and as governor of Texas he would play poker. He doesn’t pay tithes, he doesn’t try to convert others – one of the central obligations in most evangelical denominations. And he didn’t raise his daughters in the faith.
Read the full article here:
Author of the Bush Tragedy, due for publication in mid February:
