Matt Johnson: Never mind the policies, Barack’s got a winning personality

Jan 9 2008 by Matt Johnson, Liverpool Daily Post

PAY attention at the back. The world's most powerful nation is in the throes of selecting and electing a new leader.

And, this being the United States of America, it's about as straightforward a task as splitting an atom on your kitchen table.

Complex does not begin to describe the process now under way across the States where the Primary Season has opened – when individual States decide which candidate from the Republican and Democratic parties will go forward to fight the Presidential election later this year.

Yes, it is a long process only formally considered complete when the new President takes office in Washington around about a year from now.

It is also a fascinating process – not least because every twist and turn takes place under the glare of a media circus the size of which we have not seen before.

Wall to wall, coast to coast, hour to hour, minute to minute, second to second coverage is the order of the day over there right now.

And, while the voracious appetite of the news networks undoubtedly has a part to play in this democratic process, we can, sometimes, be forgiven for asking who or what is wagging the tail of the US media dog? The media has already ensured that these Primaries are about personalities rather than policies.

Hillary Clinton needed little or no introduction when the race stated.

The man who looks set to dash her dream of fighting for a return to the White House (with all its memories) is one Barack Obama.

His name has surely already become one of the best known in the world in 2008. And the likelihood is that his charm, personality and appeal in front of cameras and microphones is moving him ever closer to pole position in the race for the White House.

One seasoned BBC observer of the US political scene wrote this of him: "My question on Barack Obama, is how, when America is at war on several fronts, when Pakistan is on the brink, when Kenya is teetering, when the Middle East is, well, the Middle East; how in this case can America seriously contemplate electing a man who has limited foreign policy experience?"

What we do know already is that this man's personality is shining into the darkest corners of the political system governing the most powerful nation on earth.

For that reason alone, and because in so many respects all of our futures depend in some way on who has the keys to the White House, it really is time to pay attention.

We may cringe at the near-hysterical 24-hour coverage that our cousins devote to their political process, but we should at least watch the edited highlights.

And we should certainly watch Barack Obama – a name, and a force, to be reckoned with in 2008.

* MATT JOHNSON is chairman of Mando Group