As I’ve watched the US Presidential primaries over the last fortnight, I’ve been reminded of little Lisa Simpson’s forced question to mayoral candidate Mr. Burns: “Your campaign seems to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?” A faux question if ever there was one, but one relevant to now Democratic front runner Barrack Obama.
With the Republican’s (sensibly) settling on McCain, it has been left to Obama and Hillary to fight it out for the chance to face him in the general election. Following the almost literal tie on Super Tuesday (there were many diverse interpretations on the technical winner – but trust me it was about even), Obama has won 10 states in a row. As he says, it was a diverse set of wins too: “in small states and big states; Red States and Blue States” What’s more, he hasn’t just squeaked home, he’s dominated – his lowest winning margin, achieved in Wisconsin this week was by 17 percentage points.
So, coming up are the allegedly make or break states of Ohio and Texas. If Obama wins either, the nomination is his – and even if he doesn’t, his momentum and current delegate lead will still hold him in good stead. To get back to Lisa Simpson’s loaded question, his popularity is easy to explain. Obama is a visionary. He inspires. He promises to turn a new page in politics and pull the US out of its deepening spiral. In short, he’s the opposite of McCain and the opposite of Hillary – and that, I assure you is a good thing.
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