Could the SNP outshine Obamarama in the news charts?

With the orgasm that is Obamarama well and truly spent this side of the water, matters domestic arouse the casual political observer today.

I refer of course to the by-election in Glenrothes, Fife.

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It has come about due to the untimely death of the Labour incumbent John McDougall MP, who died in August this year of mesothelioma, a condition caused by over-exposure to asbestos.

There are eight candidates and voting continues as I speak, with the polls closing at 10pm this evening.

The interesting thing about this one, which has been all but lost whilst we joined the USA in a spot of navel gazing, is the effect of the Scottish National Party on what is a vote for a place in Westminster.

The SNP, who have been happily plying their trade as the main party in the Scottish Parliament of late, have allowed this to become a debate about their reign and the merits of an independent Scotland.

Labour of course have been laughing off suggestions of any kind of defeat in the constituency which borders Prime Minister Gordon Brown's own seat of Kircaldy and Cowdenbeath. After all they couldn't possibly lose a 10,000+ majority could they?

Yet the good old Grauniad has the SNP ahead as they approach the hustings and that would be a bloody nose indeed for the Labour party and a huge fillip for the Nationalists.

It does though appear to be a two horse race between Brownite Lyndsay Roy, Labour, who is the rector at Glenrothes school (Mr Brown's former place of learning) and the SNP's Peter Grant, the current Fife council leader.

To give you an indication of the import of this, both SNP leader Alex Salmond and PM Gordon Brown have been in Glenrothes pressing flesh and holding babies in recent days.

Of course I don't expect a quarter of a million Scots to line the main square in Glenrothes to hail an historic victory if it comes to pass. Yet this may well, in the grand scheme of things, turn out to be acutely significant in terms of Scotland's claims for independence.

If the SNP do win, what sweet irony, just a day after the commemoration of another set of insurgents who tried to cause revolutionary change.

Ok, a win for the nationalistas might not be the explosion planned by the Gunpowder Plot but it would be a major salvo across the Westminster Government's bows.

We watch and wait with interest.

Palin Looks A Bit Pythonesque

It seems that Sarah Palin, the gun-toting, Alaskan Governor, tasked with backing up Republican presidential nominee John McCain really is just like the rest of us.
She has been outspoken about the Federal Courts in America.
She has cited Roe vs Wade, a bill that allowed abortion up to 12 weeks in the States but came a cropper on a US TV show when the 'Pro-Lifer' and committed Christian was asked to cite other decisions she disagreed with.
Some Pythonesque prevarication was followed by a touch of bemusement from the questioner, Katie Couric.
Check out the links for some more comment on this but you'll be hard-pressed to find a lot of support for Mrs Palin, whose 17-year-old daughter was recently exposed as being pregnant prior to marriage, much to the embarrassed teeth-gnashing of the Christian Right of her party.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/01/palin-has-difficulty-naming-court-case-she-disagrees-with/

This latest incident shows up the US political system at its best - exposing every statement made in infinite detail, before the hyperbole is put aside and the real debate is conducted at the ballot box next month.
Talking of the ballot box, and the historic problems that it seems to have caused our transatlantic cousins over the years, check out the hilarious Simpson's video due to be aired two days before election night. Ed. Now been blocked by 20th Century Fox. Looks like we'll have to wait until the election to see it now.


Also, check out the comments on it on one of the US's many anti-Liberal blogs. Decide for yourself what you think.
Overall, Miss Palin's lack of preparation, and vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden's performance may turn out to be more critical than the debates of Obama and McCain.
We watch with interest.