It's Charisma And Other Things

The US press and pundits are already autopsying (is there a proper verb for that?) Hillary's nose-dive as front-runner in her quest to be the first female US President. Officially the race isn't over, but it's over.

From my vantage as an expat and fellow-baby boomer, it seems that the press never liked her, but the public didn't either. You need one of those fan clubs to be elected US President.

• It's not enough to be intelligent.


• It's not even enough to be sincere.


• "Good grooming" is helpful, but it's not enough.


• It's certainly not enough to have preserved your marriage through thick and thin, especially when the "thin" was very "zoftig."

It looks like Hillary will have to make do as Senator.

I have this feeling that if she had dumped Bill, showed warm and true human emotion, other than ambition and dependence, she would still be the front-runner. There's something very manufactured, calculated, plastic about her.

Now, can Obama be elected? Would middle-America go for him? I don't think so. He also seems manufactured. His standard speech about "change" reminds me of the writing exercise I did in college. We had to write a cliche` of a politician's speech. I wrote:

"I want what you want."

To be human, he must reveal something about himself, what it is like to have been raised as he was raised, in different societies and religions. All we know is that as a bi-racial, he identifies with his black side.

McCain seems most human.

No, I don't vote in US elections. Let's see how my predictions go.