LET'S HOPE AMERICA CAN CHANGE

Only a churl of the most curmudgeonly variety could fail to be pleased that Barack Obama is to be next President of the United States. I did not stay up to watch as probably I should have done however good to get to the computer this morning and see McCain wiped out .

It was interesting to see that even he, with some dignity, hailed the advent of an African American as a positive way forward for the US . And it is. Unthinkable only a generation ago.

Even in the recent past of 20 years ago I remember travelling south from Washington on a Greyhound bus ( my Paul Simon phase) towards the outer limits of the Mason-Dixon line to Richmond, Virginia, and it was utterly clear that the old divides between black and white were lurking only slightly beneath the surface. And let's not get too excited . They still are.

Obama may say "anything is possible" in America but despite being the richest nation in the world it is also one where the divides between the haves and have-nots are tremendous. The US needs a radical reform of its (grossly inadequate) welfare system and is facing economic meltdown so, yes, change urgently is needed. It won't be "left" in the sense we understand it here in the UK>

Obama's policy programme was not even as radical as Hilary Clinton's nor John Edwards, the first Democrat to fall in the primaries

But one major major plus in all this is that Obama's election will at least draw a line under the fundamentalist Republican militarist fervour of George Bush and - let's hope - a change in policy in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is also at least a signal that no country should countenance racist bigotry, white supremacy, or any of the more despicable varieties of intolerance which lead to fascism and genocide. Congratulations to the Democrats and the US for backing a black American

HILLARY CONFOUNDS THE PUNDITS

So Hillary it is in New Hampshire. Just goes to show that the opinion polls can get it wrong. A friend has referred me to a website called http://www.electoralcompass.com/ which shows where you fit on the US political spectrum. I am having trouble accessing it so maybe I am off the scale (!) but the reality is there is very little ideologically between Obama and Clinton and neither are, in UK terms, left-wing. Both said they opposed war in Iraq but voted for extra funding. Obama is not in favour of universal healthcare. Or even a watered-down version. Problem is John Edwards, to the left of both, already seems to be out of the running.

Does it matter who gets to the White House? Oh yes. The thought of another Republican at the helm is utterly sickening. And, though the democrat "left" may be unrecognisable as such to socialists in this country ( if NOT New Labour) the right is way way to the right of anyone over here. Religious fundamentalism has no place in largely secular British politics - unfortunately not the case over there. What it all boils down to now is a personality contest. On that shallow, superficial level, would rather see Obama in the White House.

OBAMA VICTORY IS REASON TO HOPE

I was in the audience in Manchester when Bill Clinton came to talk to Labour Conference in 2006. Many ( particularly women) apparently find his mode of oratory extremely seductive. I was amused by his references, in the American way, to "Mayor Livingstone" and "Chancellor Brown" , but overall I thought his speech was heavy on charm but very light on substance.

The Clintons, like the Blairs, have been professional politicians for decades and ooze money and influence. But they represent an era which is gone. Hilary Clinton is also white, middle-class, and probably too clever for her own good.

It would be great to have a woman in the White House. But if I were a US citizen, I would not vote for Clinton . She represents the kind of slick, centralised operation which was the role-model for New Labour in the early 1990's. Her "values" twist and turn in a cynical way which we here in Britain have had quite enough of. So I am heartily glad that Obama has won the first of the primaries in Iowa. It was even better that Clinton came third below John Edwards , who is widely regarded as the "left" Democrat candidate.

If Clinton doesn't make it, I think that sends a message to us here in the UK. A message which is very frightening for the New Labour machine. But one which should give those of us who value principles over pragmatism a reason to hope for the future.