This post was originally written by Tarek Amr for Global Voices Online:

The United States is a the only Super Power in today's Unipolar World. And that's why it takes people here two years to talk about the Presidential Elections there before it even starts, and they continue talking about it for another two years later.

Abdel Rahman Ayyash- Al Ghareeb – wrote an introduction here about the Presidential elections and the struggle between the two major parties in the US:

في أمريكا هناك حزبين رئيسيين ، الحزب الحاكم حاليا ، والحزب الجمهوري ، و يمثله جورج بوش في الرئاسة ، و حزب الاغلبية في الكونجرس ، ومجلس الشيوخ ، و هو الحزب الديمقراطي ، و مثله قبل ذلك ، بل كلينتون ، و يمثله في الانتخابات القادمة ، هيلاري كلينتون ، المرشحة الاوفر حظا ، بل و أول امرأة مرشحة للوصول بقوة لتكون رئيسة الادارة الجديدة .
من يتابع الاعلام الامريكي ، يدرك جيدا أن الصراع على السلطة ، يتعدى كثيرا الصراع بين أفراد ، الصراع تجاوز ذلك إلى صراع ( شركاتي ) تدعم فيه كبرى الشركات ، حملات المرشحين .. كمثال .. حصلت هيلاري على دعم كبير للغاية ( مع العلم أن هيلاري ذاتها هي التي كانت تنتقد الجمهوريين و اطلقت عليهم هذا اللفظ ( شركاتيين ) المعتمدين بنسبة ضخمة على دعم الشركات لهم

In America there are two main parties, the current ruling party, the Republicans, and represented by George Bush as the President, and the majority party in the Congress, the Democrats. And it was represented earlier by Bill Clinton, and [may be] it will be represented in the next election by Hilary Clinton, the candidate who will most likely become the first women to become the President of the United States.
Whoever follows the American media, will know well that the struggle for the power is not is far beyond a struggle between individuals. It's an organization-based struggle, where major firms support candidate campaigns. For example, Hilary got much support (Although she herself criticised the Republicans for the same reason and called them (Firmians) for their dependency on the support of firms).

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Zeinobia – Egyptian Chronicles – also wrote here about the mad race:

The American presidential race for year 2008 is like no other seriously, till now each of the two parties has not chosen yet its final candidates so we are watching a huge war between all of them.
First of all it is one of its kind, for the first time a black man runs for Presidency “Obama”, for the first time a woman runs for Presidency “Hilary”, for the first time a Mormon runs for Presidency “Romney” for the first time an Ex-minister runs for Presidency “Huckabee” and for the first time a Liberal runs for Presidency as a republican while he is against the Neo conservatives in public “Ron Paul”.
It is like a mad race and already we did not reach to the final candidates of the democrats and the republicans.

She then wrote about the religious factor in the American presidential race:

The most significant thing in this presidential race is use of religion . We all know that from the results of 9/11 is the rise of the religious talk in America , a country that seemed a sectarian for a long time , Bush and the Neo conservatives are using the election powers of the Religious Christians in America to gain power and it is enough to read the silly stupid Bush statements that he is the shadow of the lord and to know that Condi headed the Pray on Air force one to feel there is something has changed in the official media
Of course we should not forget as Arabs that the rise of the Neo conservatives in the United States means the rise of the Christian Zionism which supports blindly Israel
Of course the Republican candidates are using more the religious tune because already the conservatives are their base , but believe it or not I feel that also the democrats jumped to the wagon too , they are not content with their liberal base any more
I mean look to Obama ,how many times he stands in his church and preaches to his supporters about what he can do to his country and what he believes in …
Of course Hilary has not jumped to the Arena yet already it will not be realistic , she represents the liberal , the very liberal side of the democrats ,already some conservatives consider her as a Marxist !!!!

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Abdel Rahman Ayyash describes himself in the “About Me” section that he tries to show good model of a young Egyptian Muslim man, who believes that Islam is the only solution to all problems we face. Hence he tries here to analyze the presidential elections race from an Islamic – and perhaps a Muslim Brotherhood – point of view:

سأحاول هنا أن أظهر بعض المرونة بما يكفي لأحاول فهم نظرية الناخب الامريكي ، و كيف يقيم المرشح الذي يستطيع أن يمثله في الانتخابات ، بالطبع لا مجال للمقارنة بين المجتمع الامريكي و مجتمعاتنا العربية ( باستثناء اللبناني ) من حيث الوعي السياسي ، الذي يشكل نسبة بالغة الاهمية في ثقافة معظم مواطني الولايات المتحدة

I will try here to show some suitable flexibility in order to try to understand the American voters theory, and how those voters evaluate the candidate who can represent them in the elections. For sure it is not possible to compare the American society with that Arab one (except the Lebanese society), in terms of political awareness, which represents an important aspect in the culture of most of the citizens of the United States.

Ayyash then continues to analyse George W. Bush policies and it's effect on the voters decision in the next elections:

سياسة بوش الخاطئة بشكل عام ، أدت إلى ضعف الثقة الشديدة المتبادلة بين الأمريكي و رئيسه ، الفرق الشاسع ( الحديث نسبيا ) بين مستوى الدخول في الولايات المتحدة ، انخفاض الدولار بشكل كبير ، قضايا الضمان الاجتماعي و الأمن القومي و اللرعاية الصحية ، و قبل كل هذا القضية الرئيسية .. العراق .
إذا .. الوضع الحالي بشكل عام .. يقول أن إدارة بوش قد فشلت فشلا ذريعا ( لا أتحدث عن فوكس نيوز و تقاريرها ) لكن .. الدليل على أن إدارة بوش قد فشلت ، هي نتائج استطلاعات الرأي التي تظهر أن شعبيته في أدنى مستوياتها ، بل إن نتائج انتخابات التجديد النصفي للكونجرس و مجلس الشيوخ تثبت بما لا يدع مجالا للشك أن الشعب الأمريكي قد أصبح راغبا في عكس أيديولوجية بوش.
عكس أيديولوجية بوش برأيي هو عكس أيديولوجية صقور البيت الأبيض .. عكس أيديولوجية ديك تشيني .. بكلمة أخرى .. عكس أيديولوجية المحافظين الجدد

Bush bad policies in general, led to a severe weakness in the trust between the American citizen and his president. The huge gap (which is somehow new), between incomes in the United States, and the big drop in dollar prices, as well as the social and national security issues and health care ones, and before all these comes the main issue … Iraq.
So … the situation now generally … dictates that Bush administration had a big failure (I am not talking here about Fox news and its reports) but … the evidence that the Bush administration has failed, it is the results of the polls that shows how his popularity is at its lowest levels now. Also the results of the Congress elections proves that the Americans are looking for a counter-Bush ideology. An opposite ideology for Bush's one in my point of view is an opposite ideology of the White House hawks … the opposite of Dick Cheney … in other words … the opposite of the Neo-Conservatives.

He then continues:

أعتقد أن الناخب الأمريكي يدرك ذلك جيدا لذلك نرى هذه المؤشرات المتزايدة على نجاح الديمقراطيين في انتخابات الرئاسة القادمة ، لأن الديمقراطيين يطرحون السؤال .. من سيخرج أولا من العراق ؟ .. و الاجابة بلا شك محسومة لصالحهم .( على الرغم من أن هيلاري كلينتون شخصيا من مؤيدي الحرب على العراق و أفغانستان )

I think the American voter is really aware of this, and that's why we are seeing an increase in the evidence that the Democrats will succeed in the coming elections, because the Democrats lay the question … Who will get out of Iraq first? And the answer for sure is for their side. (Even though Hilary Clinton herself is supporting the war on Iraq and Afghanistan).

He adds that most of the Arabs don't see any difference between the Democrats and the Republicans:

الشارع العربي بغالبيته الساحقة لا ترى فرقا بين إدارة كلينتون التي حاصرت العراق و كان نتاج ذلك أن مات نصف مليون طفل عراقي نتيجة غباء نظامين أحدهما يتكلم العربية ، و إدارة بوش التي بدأت الحرب على العراق .
يقول أحد المعلقين على موضوع عن المحافظين الجدد في الجزيرة نت
“لا يوجد صقور وحمائم في الإدارة الأمريكية …فالجمهوريون والديمقراطيون يقومون بلعب ادوار مرسومة مسبقآ في مسلسل واحد وغرضهم جميعآ واحد في النهاية ولكن تتعدد الطرق …فعلى سبيل المثال… قام كلينتون بمحاصرة العراق مما ادى الى مقتل اكثر من نصف مليون طفل …قتلهم جميعآ وهو في كامل اناقتة وبدون ان يرسل دبابة واحدة …اما جورج بوش فقد دخل الحرب واعتدى على النساء والأطفال والشيوخ وهكذا …إذن فهم جميعآ يكرهوننا ويضمرون لنل الشر ويسعون الى تدمير بلادنا ولكن كل حسب الدور الذي يلعبة ..”
أستطيع القول أن الكثيرين من العرب يفكرون بنفس الطريقة ، الطريقة التي لا أستطيع أن أعلق عليها

The majority of the Arab street doesn't see any difference between Clinton's administration that laid a siege on Iraq that led to the death of half a million Iraqi children due to the stupidity of two regimes one of them speaks Arabic, and between Bush's administration that started a war on Iraq.
One of the commenters on the Neo-Conservatives topic in Aljazeeera.net wrote:
“There are no Hawks and Pigeons in the American administration … Both of the Republicans and the Democrats plays are a pre-written role in a show, and they all have one goal at the end, but the methods are different … For example … Clinton started a siege on Iraq that lead to the death of half a million children … He killed them all but without sending a single tank there … while George Bush on the other hand declared war and attacked children and old men, and so on. So they all hate us, and have evil intentions and plan to ruin our countries, but each according to his role”.
I can say that many Arabs think the same way, the way that I am not able blame or comment on.

Ayyash then tries to shed some light on the main differences between the Republicans and the Democrats:

العناوين الرنانة و الخطوط العريضة بما يتعلق بقيادة الولايات المتحدة للعالم ، نجدها في خطاب الجمهوريين كثيرا ، الذين يعتبرون أن نقطة انطلاقهم للسيطرة على النظام العالمي الجديد تبدأ من الشرق الأوسط .
استقلال الطاقة ، أحد هذه العناوين ، يرى معظم الأمريكيين أن استقلال الطاقة يمثل شغلهم الشاغل في هذه الفترة ، ( يرون أن هناك ضغطا وهابيا قد يمارس على السعودية مرة أخرى كما مورس من قبل في حرب اكتوبر 73 ) لذلك يخشى العديد من الأمريكيين أن اعتمادها في طاقتها على الشرق ، لابد و أن ينتهي .
الاقتصاد كذلك عنوان آخر ، العراق عنوان ثالث ، الديمقراطية و الارهاب و عناوين كثيرة أخرى تحدد برامج المرشحين و الناخبين .
يخشى معظم الأمريكيين في هذه المرحلة من تكرار ما حدث في ستينات القرن الماضي بما سمي وقتها الكساد العظيم ، انهيار اقتصادي او ما شايهه ، ارتفاع نسب البطالة بشكل فائق ، كل ما يحدث الآن تحت إدارة الرئيس بوش يعد مقدمة لذلك الكساد ، هذا بخلاف التقارير الاستشرافية و استطلاعات الرأي التي تؤكد أن غالبية الأمريكيين يتوقعون أن يكون العام المقبل 2008 عام كساد آخر .
البرنامج السياسي للحزب الجمهوري الحاكم حاليا ، يتحدث عن معركة بوش و نقل العدالة لأفغانستان و العراق ، برأيي البرنامج يعد ضحكا على الذقون مرة أخرى ، ذقون الأمريكيين قبلنا .
إذا ، فالحزب الجمهوري ليست لديه النية في إصلاح العديد من الأخطاء التي ارتكبها في الشرق الاوسط و التي أثرت بالتأكيد على السيج الامريكي الداخلي ، من الاقتصاد و السياسة و الاعلام ، و بالطبع النسيج المجتمعي الذي بدأ ينبذ الأقليات ، العربية و المسلمة منها خاصة ، و الشواهد على ذلك كثيرة .

The clichés and the broad lines of the United States leadership on the world, are found a lot in the Republicans speeches. They consider the Middle East as the cornerstone of their control on the New World Order.
Energy independence, is one of these broad lines, where most of the Americans care a lot about the independence of energy in this period, (they believe that the Wahhabi‘s may practice some pressure on Saudi again, like the one practised earlier during October 1973 war), and because of this many Americans are afraid of their dependence on the Eastern energy, which shall come to an end.
Economics is another broad line; Iraq is a third; Democracy and terrorism and many other broad lines which will identify the agendas of the candidates and the voters.
Most of the Americans are afraid in this stage of a recurrence of what happened in the sixties of the last century, including the time called the Great Depression, economic collapse or so, very high unemployment rates, all what is going on now under the administration of President Bush is a prelude to the recession, other than that, reports and polls confirm that most Americans expect that the coming year 2008 they will have another recession.
The political program of the ruling Republican Party is now talking about Bush's battle and the transfer of justice to Afghanistan and Iraq. In my opinion the program is nothing but deception once more, deceiving the Americans before us.

He then continues:

إذا ، فالحزب الجمهوري ليست لديه النية في إصلاح العديد من الأخطاء التي ارتكبها في الشرق الاوسط و التي أثرت بالتأكيد على السيج الامريكي الداخلي ، من الاقتصاد و السياسة و الاعلام ، و بالطبع النسيج المجتمعي الذي بدأ ينبذ الأقليات ، العربية و المسلمة منها خاصة ، و الشواهد على ذلك كثيرة .
أنا لا أقول أن هيلاري كلينتون بحزبها الديمقراطي Ùˆ برنامجه السياسي المبني على أن تكون أمريكا قوية محترمة ØŒ على صواب مطلق أو أن برنامجها حتى يرضي الشعوب العربية ØŒ ( التي يعتبر العديد من قادتها الولايات المتحدة … كل شيء ) ØŒ لكن بالنسبة لي ØŒ ارى أن الشعب الأمريكي سيختار هيلاري ØŒ لعلها الرغبة في التغيير للأفضل ØŒ أو التعلق بآخر بارقة أمل للانقاذ ØŒ أو على الأقل ØŒ للبحث عن استراتيجية أخرى في الحرب على الإرهاب ØŒ Ùˆ التي قادها بوش منذ سبع سنوات ØŒ Ùˆ مازال ØŒ بلا شك ليبراليو أمريكا أو الديمقراطيين هناك ØŒ يتعاملون بنفس الأساس الذي يتعامل به الحزب الجمهوري مع العرب Ùˆ المسلمين ØŒ Ùˆ هو أن هناك جماعات إرهابية اسلامية تختلف أيديولوجياتها ضمنيا ØŒ لكنها تتفق جميعا في الهدف الأسمى Ùˆ هو إلحاق الأذى بالولايات المتحدة ØŒ ليست الولايات المتحدة وحدها ØŒ لكن كل العالم الحر Ùˆ المنفتح ØŒ هذا ما ورد في البرنامج السياسي .
هيلاري ليست الوحيدة المرشحة للوصول للرئاسة من ناحية الديمقراطيين .. باراك اوباما هو الاخر مرشح قوي ، مؤخرا استطاع اوباما ان يحرز تقدما ملحوظا بعد ظهوره التليفزيوني مع أوبرا وينفري .
على كل حال ، أنا لست ديمقراطيا ولا جمهوريا ، فقط أنا متابع أحاول أن أرصد الوضع من بعيد ,.. من بعيد للغاية

So, the Republicans do not have the will to fix many of those mistakes that they committed in the Middle East which affected the American internal unity for sure, from economics, politics, media, and for sure the society which started to fight the minorities, and mainly the Arabic and Muslim minorities, and there are many evidences of that.
I am not saying that Hilary Clinton with her Democratic Party and its political program that tends to build a strong and respectable America is totally right, or that such program will even please the Arabs (whose leaders consider America … everything), but for me, I think the American people will choose Hilary, maybe just for change to the better, or looking for the last hope to be saved, or at least looking for another strategy in the war of terrorism, that has been led by Bush for seven years, and is still going on. For sure the Liberals and Democrats there in America are dealing with Arabs and Muslims the same way like the Republicans, by considering them as terrorist groups with various ideologies, but united under the same goal which is causing harm to the United States, and may be not the States only, but the free world as a whole too.
Hilary is not the only candidate in the Democratic party, Barack Obama, is another strong candidate, and lately he achieved a significant success after appearing with Oprah Winfrey on TV.
Anyway, I am not a Democrat nor Republican. I am just watching and trying to evaluate the situation from a distance … a far distance.

He then tries to summarize the previous paragraphs, and added some examples to illustrate his point of view:

بشكل عام ، لا يمكن أن نقول أن هناك اختلاف جذري في النظرة للعالم العربي و الاسلامي ، بين الحزبين الجمهوري و الديمقراطي ، لكن بالتأكيد هناك بعض المواضيع العالقة ، التي يرى الديمقراطيين لها حلا مختلفا تماما عما يفعله ، الاتفاق مثلا يبدو في التعامل مع الفلسطينيين و الاسرائيليين ، هناك شبه اتفاق غير مكتوب بين الإدارات الأمريكية المتعاقبة ، على أن إسرائيل هي الطفل المدلل للولايات المتحدة ، و أن الفلسطينيين لابد من الضغط عليهم كي يقدموا التنازلات لصالح الشعب اليهودي ، و لصالح السلام العادل و الشامل في المنطقة ، برأيي .. الاختلاف الوحيد أن مادلين أولبرايت رحلت ، و جاءت كوندي !
الاتفاق أيضا يبرز في تلك الأنظمة القمعية التي تحكم بلادنا و يسكت عليها النظام الأمريكي ديمقراطيا كان أو جمهوريا ، فذلك النظام الذي حاول أن يسقط تشافيز ، و حاول أن يسقط فيدل كاسترو ، لم يسقطه لأنه ديكتاتور يعمل على قمع شعبه ، كما هو الحال عندنا ، و لكن لأنه رفض أن يكون تلك الأداة الطيعة في يد الادارة الامريكية ، لكنه يسكت تماما تدجاه أنظمتنا القمعية و أعمالها الوحشية تجاه مدنييها ، كما هو الحال في المحاكمات العسكرية للإخوان المسلمين ، و كما هو الحال مع تزوير الانتخابات ، و أبدية السلطة التي يروج لها الرئيس و الحزب الحاكم في مصر

Overall, it is not possible to say that there is a radical difference in the perception of the Arab and Islamic world, between the Republican and Democratic parties, but certainly there are some outstanding issues, which the Democrats have totally different solutions than [the Republicans], for example, they both seem to agree on how to deal with the Palestinians and the Israelis, there is almost an unwritten agreement between the successive American administrations, that Israel is the spoiled child of the United States, and that the Palestinians must but put under pressure to make sacrifices for the sake of the Jewish people, and in favour of a just and comprehensive peace in the region. In my opinion … the only difference is that Madeleine Albright departed, and Condy succeeded her.
The agreement also is very acute with those repressive regimes that govern our countries and the silence of both of the American Democratic and Republican parties towards them. It is the same regime that tried to overthrow Chavez, and tried to overthrow Fidel Castro, but did not overthrow him because he is a dictator who works to suppress his people, as the ones we have, but he refused to become a tool in the hands of the American administration. On the other hand they are totally silent towards our regimes and their repressive and brutal deeds towards their own civilians, as in the case of the military trials of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the case with the electoral fraud, and the eternal power promoted by the President and ruling party in Egypt.

And finally he writes:

بالطبع أنا لم أذكر الرؤية الاقتصادية للديمقراطيين أو مقارنتها برؤية الجمهوريين ، فقط أنا أتحدث عن العلاقة بين الإدارة الأمريكية و بين العالم الاسلامي بشكل عام .
العالم الاسلامي لا ينتظر الكثير من أدارة أمريكية مختلفة ، لكن .. الكثيرون ينتظرون التعامل الأمريكي ( الديمقراطي) مع قضايا الاصلاح و حقوق الانسان يجب أن يختلف عن مثيله ( الجمهوري ) و التعامل الامريكي يجب أن يتغير مع الحركات الاسلامية المعتدلية ، الإخوان المسلمين مثال ، يجب أن تدرك الادارة الامريكية القادمة أن الإخوان المسلمين ليسوا أعداء.

Of course I did not mention the economic vision of Democrats or compare it with that of the Republicans. I was just talking about the relationship between the American administration and the Islamic world in general.
The Islamic world is not expecting much from the American administration, but … many are waiting for the American (Democrats) way of dealing with reform and human rights issues to be different from that of the (Republican). And the American way of dealing with moderate Islamic movements must change, for instance, with the Muslim Brotherhood. The next administration must realize that the Muslim Brotherhood are not enemies.

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Shady – Qawmeyoon Lel Abad (Pan-Arabist Forever) – decided to write here about another aspect of the American elections. You can easily taste a Pan-Arabism and Leftist flavour in his post:

حكاية الديمقراطية الأمريكانى.. بصراحة مجننانى معقول كل الولايات المتحدة بكل ما فيها من كفاءات وقيادات سياسية وشعبية ..علمية وعمالية لم تجد سوى الفتى بوش التافه ابن الرئيس السابق لتضعه على رأس هذه الامبراطورية الضخمة , وهل يعقل أن الحزب الديمقراطى المرشح الأكبر للفوز فى الإنتخابات الرئاسية القادمة-فى الغالب- سوف يرشح السيدة هيلارى كلينتون زوجة الرئيس السابق , وهل عُدمت نسوان أمريكا فلم يجدوا غير الخائبة التى لم تستطع الحفاظ على زوجها , لكى يضعوا بين يديها دفة القيادة لهذه الإمبراطورية الضخمة
إذا كان الأمر عائلى بهذا الشكل..ابن الرئيس , ومن بعده زوجة الرئيس يتناوبون على مقعد الرئاسة . فأى ديمقراطية تلك .. هل هى مجرد ديمقراطية اقطاعية بين عائلات معينة تحتكر السياسة , وأخرى تحتكر المال فتمول الأولى , وثالثة تحتكر الإعلام فتسوق للأثنين معاً , وتسوق الماشية نحو القدر المختوم على قفا المجنون
وفى النهاية يظن المواطن الأمريكى الأبله أنه هو من يختار الرئيس , وأنه يعيش أزهى عصور الملوخية
حسناً أنا مقهور , ولا أختار أحداً وهذا الدكتاتور المتعفن ذو الثمانين خريفاً يحكم رغم أنفى , ولكنى لست أبله , ولا أشارك فى لعبة الديمقراطية

The whole story of American democracy, is really driving me crazy. Is it possible that the United States with all it's talented political and social leaders, scientific and industrial ones, didn't find anyone to put on the head of that huge Empire but that Bush, the son of the ex-president? And is it possible that the Democratic main candidate in the next elections – will most probably be – Hilary Clinton the wife of an ex-president? Aren't there any other women in America but that failure, who wasn't even able to keep her husband, to be chosen to lead that huge Empire?
If it is going to be a family business … the president's son, and after him the wife of another ex-president, then what kind of democracy is that? Is it just a dynasty between specific families that monopolises the political business, and another ones that monopolises the financial business and sponsors the first one, and a third group of families that monopolise the media and market the other two groups, and drive the flock towards its crazy destiny.
And at the end of the day, the silly American citizen thinks that he is the one who chooses his president, and lives in the best ages of democracy.
Well, I have no choice, and I choose no one, and those 80-year-old dictators rule against my will, but I am not an idiot and do not participate in the democracy game.

*****

Some other bloggers decided to pick specific candidates and write posts about them. Fadfadation for example wrote here about Hilary Clinton:

For the past few years the star of Hilary Clinton has been rising.
As stated in Al-Ahram newspaper, she seems to be getting closer to being the representative for the Democratic party in the next Presidential elections.
What does this mean to us (Arabs\Muslims)?
It means one thing… trouble…big time!
Why?
She is known to be a hardcore pro-Israeli fanatic (if it is possible to call someone that).
I know the US foreign policies are always pro-Israeli more than anything else (because of interests…etc.), but this lady will take the word PRO to another dimension.

*****

Sandmonkey also wrote here about Mrs Clinton. He started by analysing the Democrats and Republicans strategies in elections:

However, as anyone who observed the 2000 and 2004 elections would tell you, this is not the way democrats operate. Democrats always look for electability, which means the following: a “centrist” candidate- Bonus points if from southern origin- that they think republicans might vote for, despite their lack of Charisma or ability to connect with people (Gore, Kerry, anyone?). This is the main difference between democrats and republicans: Democrats chose the guy they think republicans might vote for, republicans chose the guy they would like to vote for. This is why Dean lost in the Democratic primaries in 2004: the democrats liked him, but were afraid the republicans wouldn’t vote for him, so they chose the man that looks like the Tree from the Wizard of Oz, despite his utter lack of Charisma and the fact that he is from Massachusetts (Mass Yankee liberals don’t get southern votes). Then they wondered why the hell they lost.

He then moved to Hilary Clinton's case:

But wait, say the Hillary believers: Hillary is different. Hillary votes centrist, yet has liberal appeal. Hillary is also a woman; this may get the women voters. And she is a Clinton, and everybody misses the Clinton days, when the Economy was good and the nation’s biggest problem was whether the Prez did or did not get head from a Jewish intern with big Tatas. After 8 years of Bush, they say assuredly, people will go for anything Clinton.
Ehh, not so fast.
To say that the women will vote for Hillary just because she is a woman is actually naive and insulting to women, especially the big chunk of female voters who do not like Hillary, and to be more specific the conservative or religious ones, and they are becoming a bigger part of the female population (hence Hillary speaking about her faith nowadays). Not to mention, if the republicans throw in their own female candidate, like Liddy Dole for example, they could take that vote too.
Plus, Hillary has the same major flaw that Gore and Kerry had: She is not liked personally and the chances of her connecting with the regular voters is close to nill! Sure, she is respected, she is admired, she is a great role model for all of the Welsley Chickas (Kate, if you are reading this, I mean YOU), but she isn’t personally likeable. There is something cold and inhuman about her, compared to, let’s say, Elizabeth Edwards. Sure, Bill will be the one doing all the charming pimpage for his wifey, but that’s not enough to get people to vote for her or like her and this is why she will probably lose. The democrats are better off going with Edwards or something, unless they are really focused on becoming a minority party forever.
Ehh, who knows? It’s far too early to call anyway.

*****

Mukhtar – UnbraInwasher – has his own way of translating articles in his blog while adding his own point of view along, he calls this Bahraza, and here are his two cents:

موقف هيلاري من العدوان علي العراق مش بس يخلي الواحد يقلق من مستوي أخلاقياتها – اللي هي خرا زي ماهو واضح – ده كمان يخلي الواحد يشك في مستوي ذكاءها، هي متخيلة يعني أنها ممكن توكّل الناس الأونطة بالمنطق الخايب بتاعها ده؟ قال قوات الاحتلال نجحت في العراق قال!!! يا شيخة روحي اتلهي كده ولاّ شوفيلك طشت تستحمي فيه يمكن دماغك تنضف

Hilary's stance on the war on Iraq, not only makes me cautious of her ethics – what are obviously shit – but also make me weary of her IQ level. Does she think that she can deceive people with such lame logic? The invasion forces succeeded in Iraq!! Come on, go get a life.

*****

Blogger Soosa El Mafroosa, wrote here about Obama's ethnic and religious background:

ووسط عدد كبير منالمرشحين المتواجدين على ساحة المنافسة حاليا تتركز الأضواء على السباق الدائر داخل الحزب الديمقراطي بين مرشحيه هيلاري كلينتون – التي تحلم بانهاء الحظر على دخول النساء للمكتب البيضاوي- Ùˆ باراك اوباما المرشح الأسود الذي يحظى بتأييد المثقفين Ùˆ الشخصيات العامة بالإضافة للأقليات
و يرى المراقبين ان فرصة اوباما كبيرة في التغلب على هيلاري و باقي المرشحين و الفوز بترشيح الحزب الديمقراطي ليصبح أول أمريكي أسود يتم ترشيحه من قبل الحزبين الرئيسيين في أمريكا و يكون لديه الفرصة ليصبح اول رئيس أسود للولايات المتحدة الأمريكية
لكن فرصة اوباما تتعرض للخطر بسبب الشائعات المغرضة التي تثار حوله
ليست شائعات نسائية كزوج منافسته كلينتون ولا شائعات اقتصادية ولا سياسية ..لكنها دينية
فهو متهم بأنه مسلم..فباراك أوباما واسمه بالكامل باراك حسين اوباما من أم امريكية بيضاء وأب كيني مسلم..

Among that number of competing candidates, the spotlights are focused on the two Democratic candidates, Hilary Clinton – who is dreaming to end the ban on women from entering the oval office – and Barack Obama the black candidate who is supported by the intellectuals, public figures, as well as the minorities.
The analysts see that Obama's chances to beat Hilary are big, as well as the other candidates and to become Democratic party's candidate hence become the first black American to be nominated by any of the the two major parties there to become a president. He also has a chance to become the first black president of the United States.
But the rumours around Obama are subjecting his chances to risk.
Not sexual rumours like Hilary's husband, nor economical or political rumours, but religious ones.
He is accused of being a Muslim, and his full name is Barack Hussein Obama, from a white American mother and a Kenyan father.

She then continues:

و بالطبع اتهام باراك -الذي يحمل نفس اسم والده- بالإسلام هو اتهام أخطر مايكون في نظر الناخب الأمريكي اليوم..في ظل ظاهرة الإسلاموفوبيا المنتشرة في أمريكا بعد هجمات الحادي عشر من سبتمبر
ولا يبخل اوباما بوقته ولا مجهوده في سبيل انكار هذه الشائعة”المغرضة” عن كونه مسلم متخفي Ùˆ لا يدخر وسعا في انكار انه انتمى يوما الى هذا الدين او آمن بمبادءه

For sure the accusation of Barack – who carries the same name as his father – of being a Muslim, is extremely dangerous for the American voter today, where Islamophobia is everywhere in America after the attacks of September 11. And Obama does his best to deny that “biased” rumour that he is a disguised Muslim, and he does his best to deny that he belonged one day to that religion or believed in it.

She then wrote:

و في ظل هذا التركيز على الإسلام و الجدل القادم حول أوباما .تجد المسلمين كالعادة في ثبات عميق و لم و لن يتنبه أي منهم الى وجود فرصة سانحة في توضيح معالم الدين و تحسين صورته لدى المواطن الأمريكي و بالتالي في العالم ..ثم نتساءل بعدها
لماذا يخافوننا
لماذا لا يحبوننا
و لماذا لا يفهمون ديننا

And during such debate about Obama's religion and the focus on Islam, we find the Muslims as usual silent and careless, and no one of them is willing to make use of such a chance to shed some light on Islam and improve its image among Americans and the rest of the world. And then we ask ourselves…
Why are they scared of us?
Why do the hate us?
And why don't they understand our religion?

*****

Zeinobia - Waqaee Masreyya – wrote about the same point here too:

و عالرغم من انتماء باراك للدين و المذهب الاغلبية للولايات المتحدة و غالرغم من ظهوره كرجل متدين فيكفى ان اعلانه بداية ترشحه كان من كنيسة الا ان جذوره الاسلامية تطارده كالاشباح فى وطن توجد فيه فوبيا من الاسلام و بعض من مواطنيه يعتبر الاسلام و كل ما يتعلق به ارهابى

Even though Obama belongs to the same religion and sect of the American majority, and his image as a religious person, and it's enough that his announcement to enter the election was made inside a church, but his Islamic roots are haunting him like ghosts in a country where people have Islamophobia and consider Islam and anything related to it to be terrorist.

*****

Zeinobia then wrote in her English blog about Giuliani's daughter Caroline who favoured Obama as a President more than her own father.

This is so funny, imagine your own daughter does not support you nor your party and supports your political rival and your rival party!!
It seems that Giuliani's daughter Caroline favoured Obama as a President more than her father before changing her opinion publicly; she seems that she does not want to be the first daughter, this surprises me in her age
But may be she is paying back to her dad after his old treason when he was married to her mom
Or MAY BE SHE is smart New Yorker girl who knows that Obama is really better than her own daddy
Of course Rudy made her leave the Obama facebook group and now she is in the Giuliani's team otherwise she won't get a penny from him as easy as that

*****

Mohamed El Korna – Wal Sheer Lazem Yehfazoh El Nas – wrote here about the elections, Obama, and the Web2.0:

انتقلت ساحة معركة الانتخابات الرئاسية الأمريكية هذا العام من المناظرات السياسية والبرامج الانتخابية للمرشحين إلى أغاني الفيديو كليب، حيث ظهر على موقع “يوتيوب” كليب بسيط وبدائي لفتاة غير معروفة أطلقت على نفسها اسم Obama Girl تحت عنوان I got a crush on Obama أو “أنا معجبة بأوباما”ØŒ تقوم من خلال الكليب بالتعبير عن إعجابها بشخصية باراك حسين أوباما المرشح للرئاسة والدعاية له للفوز بالانتخابات
وتمتلئ الأغنية بالعديد من العبارات مثل “لا أطيق الانتظار حتى 2008ØŒ عزيزي أنت أفضل المرشحين”ØŒ والغريب أن هذا الكليب ذا الميزانية المنخفضة للغاية والتي تؤديه مغنية تظهر للمرة الأولى انتشر بشكل غريب في أغلب قنوات الإعلام الأمريكي والعالمي بعد النجاح الهائل الذي حققته الأغنية على موقع اليوتيوب

The American Presidential elections battlefield has moved from political debates and the campaigns to video clips. A new primitive clip is now shown on YouTube, where an unknown girl who call herself, “Obama Girl”, who expresses her admiration of Barack Hussein Obama and markets him in a clip called, “I got a crush on Obama”.
And the song is full of phrases such as, “Can't wait till 2008, dear Obama you are the best”, and it's strange that such a clip with s low budget, and a singer who appears for the first time, was spread in most of the American and international channels, especially after its huge success on YouTube.

He then continues:

الطريف أنه إذا كان من المقبول ظهور فتاة تغني عن إعجابها بأحد المرشحين والذي يبلغ من العمر 46 عاما، فسيكون من غير المنطقي أن تظهر فتاة في نفس عمر الفتاة السابقة لتغني عن تأييدها لمرشح آخر في الـ63 من عمره، ولكن هذا ما حدث بالرغم من غرابته في أغنية Obama Girl VS Giuliani Girl، أما الأكثر طرافة هو اختيار مطربة زنجية للدفاع عن المرشح جولياني (الأبيض) في الأغنية أمام منافسه نصف الإفريقي أوباما والذي تدافع عنه امرأة بيضاء في الكليب

It's funny that, if it is acceptable for a girl to show her attraction to a 46-year-old candidate, but it's not reasonable that another girl, as old as that one, sings for another candidate who is 63 years old. And this is what happened in fact, though it is odd, in “Obama Girl vs. Giuliani Girl”. And what's funnier here, it that a black girl chose the (white candidate) Giuliani to defend, while his half-African competitor was defended by a white girl in the clip.

*****

It seems that Mike Huckabee is really aware of Obama's religious issue, and you can read Sandmonkey‘s comment on Hukabee's opposite religious strategy here:

Mike Huckabee believes God wants him as President
Wasn't that W. Bush's problem? What happened? We watching re-runs now?

*****

Zeinobia - Egyptian Chronicles – also wrote about Huckabee and people mocking him here:

I just do not like when people cross the line and speak rudely and sarcastically about how other people look like, you may make fun of what they do and did but not how they look, it is inappropriate.
I came across several so-called liberal and democrat American blogs which were circulating a photo for Mike Huckabee and his family and they were making fun of his boys in a terrible way because they are fat, in a very mean disgusting way.
I do not like Huckabee and I do not want him as a President for the United States because we have enough in the Middle East from the Neo-conservatives but to make fun on how his sons look like is terrible
The Question here, what if Mike Huckabee was a liberal democrat???
Would they make fun of him like this??

*****

As you can see, no one is safe from rumours this year. And once more Sandmonkey is commenting on such news in one of his posts:

Ron Paul has ties with Neo-Nazis?
Well, they claim so. Would really suck if it's true!

*****

And the last candidate for today is Mitt Romney, The Arabist, wrote about his apparent hatred for Muslims here:

Mitt Romney, who increasingly appears to be the likely Republican candidate for the 2008 US presidential elections, doesn’t want Muslims in his cabinet. He has given at least two reasons, both outrageous:
The witness, Irma Aguirre, a former finance director of the Nevada Republican Party, paraphrased Romney as saying: “They’re radical. There’s no talking to them. There’s no negotiating with them.”
In that account, a Muslim businessman, Mansour Ijaz, claimed that Romney had said that based on the “numbers of American Muslims” in the country, “I cannot see that a cabinet position would be justified” for a Muslim.
So basically he believes that all Muslims are radicals, and thinks minorities that don’t meet a certain threshold should be barred from cabinet or other senior positions. The percentage figure for Muslims in America goes from 0.5% to 1% of the population.

*****

DB Shobrawy – Whisper of Madness – wrote about Romney's Jihad on Laughter here:

If you’re not already familiar with Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, you should be! This greasy haired governor of Massachusetts is a walking highlight real. Besides the fact that he’s running on a platform opposite to the one that got him elected as governor, he makes video clip worthy statements every single day. This is the guy who said the United States should look up to Hezbollah! I love it. Recently Romney made one of those cheesy campaign commercials where the candidate is 2 feet from the camera with his nicely kept front lawn in the background on a bright sunny day. The only thing missing was his kids and dog playing in the sprinklers. Anyways, the message of the commercial was so hilarious that Saturday Night Live played it on their show unedited for the audiences viewing pleasure; it got more genuine laughter than most skits on the show.

*****

And finally, Sandmonkey wrote about the hole Romney's Campaign dug for itself here:

This is such a funny story. Ok, check this out: Mitt Romney's campaign wanted to show that it is hip and internet savvy, so they created a campaign ad contest, where the average internet user can design the next Mitt Romney Campaign ad. Just go on this website, and create an ad using a number of provided video clips, audio clips and photos, and the most popular and viewed ad will become their next campaign ad. Well, Bruce Reed from Slate (a raging Democrat), decided to make his own Romney campaign ad, and called it “Way”. And guess what? It's the most viewed one, the top ad off all the other ads, and if the Romney campaign keeps it word, it might have to air it anyway, and if it doesn't, it will be a PR snafu: so much for respecting the choice of the people. Either way the stormin Mormon is screwed!
This is so gonna get funny!