John McCain: More of the same, please....

John McCain managed to put the US media in a tailspin for the Labour Day weekend holiday by the presentation of his Vice-Presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, Governor of the state of Alaska.

Impressive on many fronts, the presentation of her has undercut what would have been weekend dominance of the media by Senator Obama's Thursday speech at the Democrat National Convention in Denver, Colorado.

Obviously, there is still much to be done - the convention needs to be first rate, however the raw material is in place to pose a 'clear and present danger' to the Democrat hopes of a November election win.

How far ago January seems where the Democrats regarded the outcome of the election as a foregone conclusion.

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Republican, Election 2008, McCain, Sarah Palin

Democrat Convention Day Two: Reciprocity ?

This evening Hilary Clinton gave the key speech at the Democrat convention in Denver. Hilary gave a real tour de force which even the most ardent anti-Democrat would have to concede. She achieved four key issues in her speech;

1. Putting personal support behind Senator Obama.
2. Pitching to women voters.
3. Thanking her supports and sponsors.
4. Reminding Democrats of the Clinton legacy and what they will be missing.

The telling issue was the lack of Barack Obama today. For a candidate able to dial in by satellite to say hello to his family it seemed odd that he would not give a personal tribute to Hilary Clinton. Secondly, the fact that critics are pitching Obama as being an elitist, his lack of appearance is no salve to the criticisms.

Democrat Convention 2008: Day One: The Clinton rift proves telling

This evening's first evening of the Democrat convention saw Tributes to former President Carter and Senator Kennedy acting as a warm-up for Barack Obama's wife Michelle and a brief satellite input from the great man.

It proves telling that Bill Clinton's successful Presidency cannot be leveraged due to the destructive campaign between Hilary and Barack Obama.

The Democrat campaign team require some swift 'adjustments' after Michelle Obama's somewhat wooden performance. Her speech was not quite tailored enough for her and seemed to read like a laundry list of statements aimed at proving how normal they were.

So in summary, on day one the Republicans central theme is that Obama lacks substance and experience for the commander-in-chief role to which the Democrat response has been to wheel out one-term President (though wonderful humanitarian) Jimmy Carter from 3 decades ago.

Not the most auspicious of starts.

Obama's selection of Vice-President a fatal turning point ?

Barack Obama selected Senator Joseph Biden as his Vice-Presidential running mate earlier in the week for the Democrat Party bid for the 2008 White House.

A telling choice in many ways and possibly a turning point for the worse for the campaign. It appears increasingly obvious that the Obama-Clinton ticket would have been highly conflictual in office, but devastating in winning the 2008 election.

Biden, by virtue of having been around for a long time has accumulated political baggage of obvious interest to the Republican rival, John McCain.

It is surprising that the choice was not for a younger governor or senator to reinforce the change message. "politics making for odd bedfellows" is still relevant obviously.

Whither defence ? Conservative Party spending priorities still unclear

The Financial Times newspaper ran two items recently, "Boardrooms keep watch on political risks" and "Companies fear Tory axe on contracts". The thrust of these articles seems to be typical mid-term pieces where the opposition party, gaining confidence, is now seeking tentatively to build a platform of credibility in managing government better than the incumbents.

Whilst the Conservatives plan 'big changes' in procurement, sadly the Party remains silent on its intentions regarding appropriate funding of defence. The reforms of procurement in the 1990s have taken substantial time to become embedded in the civil service system - change of process only serves to a) complicate execution of procurement policies or b) divert attention away from particular decisions.

One of the challenges for the Conservatives is that spending on health and education have been ramped up so dramatically under the current Labour administration that there will be little choice other than to make cuts or else be committed to current plans in the manner of the Blair administration's first years.

For defence, which has certainly delivered on what the public has asked of it, there seems to be elements of an unfolding greek tragedy whereby the more defence achieves, the greater the propensity to ask more and resource less - no matter how it is spun politically.

The Conservative Party has the opportunity to declare clarity of policy on resourcing defence and defer review of military commitments until after an election - enabling the Party to focus on their managerial competence without risking a protracted debate over foreign policy.