With friends like this...

I watched President Bill Clinton in the Davis Letterman show on TV yesterday. As usual he was a charismatic guest. He gave an excellent explanation for the current crisis in the Wall Street. But when the topic turned to the Presidential election, he became rather coy. He had difficulty in saying anything positive about Barack Obama. In fact, it looked like he was avoiding even saying the name ‘Obama’ (as the next guest in the show, Chris Rock, rightfully observed). Clinton instead praised John McCain as ‘true hero’ who has made great sacrifices for this country. He noted that the selection of Sarah Palin for the V.P. slot was excellent. It was obvious that Bill Clinton is still bitter about Hillary losing the nomination for U.S. Presidency to Obama. I even suspect that he wants Obama to lose this election, so that Hillary will get another chance in 2012. Clinton mentioned that he was looking forward to campaigning for Obama in the coming weeks. I am not sure that it is a good thing!

Be careful when you play with sharp instruments!

Barrack Obama is certainly taking the maximum out of the gaffes of John McCain on the topic of the U.S. economy which dominated the news this week. He is quite witty with his McCain quotes and comments. Funny excerpts of his speech are played over and over on T.V. which may hurt McCain (it is not good to be laughed at!). I am even hoping that the short tempered McCain is having a slow burn, and will finally lose his cool in the coming Presidential debate (Americans do not like people who lose their composure easily). At the same time, Obama has to be careful not to overstep the boundary by making fun of McCain’s age and mental lapses. That will cement him as an ‘uppity' black man – (a code word for the whites to not vote for him).

Silver lining of dark clouds!

I am very concerned about the plummeting of the U.S. stock market this week. I hate to look at the carnage it has done to my portfolio (although I am lucky to have moved a some portion of it into safe money market and bonds, a few months ago). Also, a major recession can seriously impact my software business. But I am relieved to see that the ongoing Presidential campaign coverage in the MSM has now shifted its focus from Sarah Palin and her lipstick, to U.S. economy. I do not think the public is going to buy John McCain’s transformation as a maverick who will change the ‘greed of Wall Street’, as he puts it. Throughout his career he was for deregulation of the market which has resulted in this disaster. A tiger cannot change its stripes that quickly. Already polls are showing Barrack Obama moving ahead. I am thrilled!

‘We have found the enemy. It is us!'

The CNN news headlines early this morning (Pacific time) highlighted the collapse of the U.S. stock market (Dow Jones was down by about 250 points then). I checked the CNN news again around 11 AM to see the status. Guess what the top news was at that time? It was the seating of the O.J. Simpson trial in Nevada, with color pictures and details. I had to search through the sub-headlines to find out what was going on in the Wall Street. The stock index had plummeted by another 200 points by then. But it was not the top story. A financial collapse of the size of the ‘Great Depression’ is in the making in USA; but CNN knows that the people are more interested in the juicy details of O.J.’s plight. Americans, in general, do not like to tax their brains with ‘complex’ matters like the implications of banks collapsing, and the policies and qualifications of their next President! Most of these hardworking people have no time for it. They rather watch sports, and follow the meltdown of Britney Spears on TV. People vote based on their gut feeling, without bothering to analyze both sides of the issues which matter to them. In 2000, instead of a boring and pedantic Al Gore, they went with inexperienced George Bush as he was the guy they would like to have beer with. In 2004, John Kerry was too sophisticated for people to vote for. This country has paid a heavy price for those mistakes. Now, thanks to the baseless personal attacks against him, Barrack Obama has been knocked down from his pedestal of an inspiring new kind of leader. It looks like people rather go with the more familiar ‘white’ John McCain, and Sarah Palin, the smart and perky woman whom they can identify with. It does not matter to them that they are voting to keep in the office the party which is responsible for the last disastrous seven years, and that a clearly unqualified person will be one heartbeat away from the oldest President ever to take the office. I am afraid that we are going to get the fate we deserve!