It may be because I’m listening to the BBC World Service’s extremely thorough coverage of it, but there’s an awful lot of a furore about President Obama’s visit to Ghana isn’t there? It’s astonishing how a foreign leader—especially one of such a controversial state—can be so universally popular in so many countries. I can’t help but fear though, that he will be unable to do anything other than disappoint. He is the President of the USA after all, and that is where his final allegiance lies, not in the rest of the world. I’m liking the content of his speech to the Ghanaian parliament though, a refreshing change from what has come before.

Photo credit: worthbak on Flickr.

I’m sure most readers of this blog have already seen the video of Obama’s speech to the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, but I thought I’d share it anyway. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our politicians in Britain and Europe would have something like this? No matter what office is held, politicians should never take themselves too seriously.

Note to self: don’t arrange morning meetings the day after a US Presidential election. I’m not fully awake yet, but I’m certainly happy that I got out of bed and into a world that is slightly better branded than it was yesterday morning.

I’ll try to offer a more coherent post later on after I’ve had some more sleep and/or coffee.

You may have noticed that I’ve put a special election theme on my blog for today and tomorrow. I’m quite excited because this is the first US election where I’ve really followed what is going on, and certainly the first where I’ve had a political blog (my first blog post was in 2005).

Also, in a break from my usual election night activities (drinking cheap tea at the count), I’m spending this one at an ‘election party’ type thing.

I’ll probably be blogging a bit, later on when the results start to come through, and I’ll try to keep the results panel updated as well, which leaves me little to say just now, other than good luck Barrack.

So Sarah Palin sat at the “news-desk” on Saturday Night Live and nodded her head along in good humour to Amy Poehler rapping through her campaign. Why doesn’t this happen in British politics? There is a lot to dislike in Palin’s politics, but just as with McCain and Obama’s recent after-dinner speeches, she’s shown that she can see the light side of the campaign and politics.

I wouldn’t suggest that all the ‘popular’ bits of American politics should be adopted, but seeing the debates, campaigning where the candidates meet ordinary activists (and sometimes even real people), and television participation, it seems that the candidates have a higher profile. Probably the voter turnout will be less that it could be, but — so long as it is backed by actual policy positions — the degree to which the campaigns communicate with the electorate seems really positive. And yes, I know that the positions they’re running for are just a tiny bit more significant than a seat in the Commons, but there’s still scope for scaled down self-deprecation and popular communication.