Happy Boxing Day

OK, I don't really have any idea about Boxing Day either besides what it says on Wiki so perhaps some AMERICAblog readers in the UK or Commonwealth countries can tell us more. We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner with a fun group of expats last night. The group included a few locals, a German expat and then a few Americans. Needless to say the subject of politics and the 2008 was front and center.

Down to the last American, we all were aghast at the decline of rights in the US and debated whether Americans really give a damn. The consensus was that yes they are aware, but no, people just don't care. In Europe, you just assume you are being watched but in the US, it used to be a core values issue. There was also a general feeling that the US has drifted into the far right becoming a country that is a much different place than only a few years ago. From afar, the "I'm more of a good Christian than you" theme in the campaign is downright bizarre.

More after the jump on what us fuzzy foreigners think about the candidates.

Our host, Jim, is what could be best described as an old fashioned Republican. Precisely the kind that is being driven out of the party due to the Christian hard right. Jim repeatedly talks to me about how crazy the GOP has become since Bush arrived. Last night he talked about liking McCain, though he preferred the McCain of 2000 over the 2004 boot-licking McCain. In 2008, everyone thought that McCain is simply too old for the position. Pick any recent photo of the guy and he just looks bad. Outside of McCain, Jim was on board with either Edwards or Obama.

Of course, what 2008 election discussion would be complete without talking about Hillary? The room was generally accepting of voting for her though a few issues really annoyed the crowd. Voting for Iraq was the biggie. People may concede that getting out of Iraq needs to be planned properly, but why can't she just admit she made a mistake? Worse still, why vote for war with Iran? No matter how that subject has been spun, there's anger out there on this. (I had my own barn burner discussion with my sister on this two weeks ago.) If Hillary moves forward, she's going to have to explain this one because the group last night was fairly middle of the road, business types.

One visiting New Yorker also asked the question, "tell me what exactly is on her Senate resume that shows leadership?" Gaining experience via osmosis doesn't translate to many people. It's a theme that is receiving more coverage (on both sides) but she has her work cut out for her here too. Obama can talk about his Senate leadership on the issue of lobbyists (no matter how weak it was, in reality) and people can at least see something. Hillary leaves people wondering what exactly she has stood for since joining the Senate. If there is a record of leadership, nobody at the table knew about it including the person living in NYC who is a Democrat.

The hostess of the party, Hadia, was much more on the Hillary ship. She understood the complaints and did not necessarily agree with all of her positions, but Hadia blurted out "I would vote for Hillary." (I think my sister falls more in this camp as well. There is no love for those strange votes, but she is supportive of a woman taking a leadership position.) There are surely a lot of people out there that are fed up with men dominating politics (and business) and want to see this change. Despite improvements in the business world, the US is still pretty pathetic when it comes to women in politics. We have a long way to go before we are in the same league as Scandinavia, where the ratios are pretty even. When we have 50% of the population being blocked out of power, there is a problem. Hillary connects with many people - men and women - on this issue.

The consensus for this small group around the table was that no matter who the Democrat was, they would vote for that person. There was a consensus belief that the GOP was barking mad with their appeals to the religious right. Everyone pointed the finger in the direction of Karl Rove as the guy who created this problem for the GOP. He won a few elections but is losing the long term war for the heart and soul of the party. The Republicans now are so far down that lunatic fringe path, how could any thinking person connect with them? How could a country like the US be having a debate on evolution in 2007? If this is where the GOP is today, their future looks bleak beyond the fanatics of the religious right. Mainstream Americans just find them, well, strange and creepy.

Obviously this is just a small group of people, most of whom vote remotely so their votes are ignored anyway. (Thanks to Democrats and Republicans alike for that lovely little program of democracy for all.) What would be interesting to folks overseas is knowing if this represents what others are thinking and saying, or are these thoughts just limited to expats? What are people near you saying about the elections and the the candidates? Similar to our discussions over here or different?