Let’s be frank, Obama’s speech last night was phenomenal.  But not in the usual way.  Obama is a great orator, so for him to deliver a technically excellent speech is nothing out of the ordinary, but what set the speech apart was clear the message that Obama is not the usual kind of Democrat campaigner.  Obama took the opportunity to send a strong signal to the Republicans that he would not fall victim to the standard Republican campaign.  What campaign?  The one that brands democratic candidates as unpatriotic, weak, and immoral. 

He made clear that he was not afraid to tackle the divisive issues that Democratic candidates usually avoid like the plague; abortion, gay rights, and the right to bear arms. 

And perhaps most importantly of all Obama showed that he can take the fight to the Republicans on their territory, adopting their language to make his own arguments; personal responsibility and low tax are no longer the private reserve of Republicans. 

Has this speech sealed the election for Obama?  Not at all.  But it makes clear just how tough an opponent he’s going to be for McCain. 

Want to know how to tell which presidential candidate is going to win the election?  Apparently all you need to do is look at the number of masks of each candidate that are sold by BuyCostumes.com:

The big question is who’s doing better at the moment; Obama or McCain?

[Hat tip: Matthew Richardson]

Tonight is the night when Obama will stride onto the stage to declare himself the messiah accept his party’s nomination.  Obama has chosen to deliver his speech in the kind of understated venue you would expect from a man who invented his own presidential seal. 

So what am I doing to make the most of this historic occassion?  Why I’m attending a toga party. 

After all, what other way is there to make the most of the Barackopolis?

This morning I was sitting outside my girlfriend’s French class reading the news when I received a text message on my Blackberry.  As usual I unlocked the Blackberry and checked the text (which turned out to be from a friend asking me when I get back to the UK), however I noticed below the text that had just arrived a number of text messages that had been sent to people on my contact list.  Nothing unusual about that, after all I send loads of text messages to people, but none of the text messages listed were ones I had sent; and they all said the same thing "I hate you."

I’ve now just finished texting everyone who received the "I hate you" text with apologies. Needless to say I am a little less than happy at the moment.

Any idea why this happened? 

I’ve been tagged by Tory Bear, well, a meme.  So, without further ado, what was I doing when:

Princess Diana’s death - 31 August 1997
I was staying at my best friend’s house, and was woken in the morning by his sister telling us Princess Diana had died in a car accident. 

Margaret Thatcher’s resignation - 22 November 1990
I honestly have no idea. 

Attack on the Twin Towers - 11 September 2001
It was a couple of weeks before I was due to start university and I’d popped up to my old school to see a couple of teachers.  My father picked me up afterwards and told me two planes had flown into the WTC and one of the towers had fallen down;  oddly though I assumed he was referring to the radio-mast tower on top of one of the buildings rather than the building itself - I just couldn’t imagine the entire thing coming down.  I then went down into Belfast city centre to meet some friends in a pub.  I walked in to find everyone staring in silence at the TV screens showing footage from the attack.  I’ll never forget it. 

England’s World Cup Semi-Final v Germany - 4 July 1990
Again, I honestly have no idea.
 
President Kennedy’s Assassination - 22 November 1963
Being a glint in my father’s eye

And as is the tradition with memes I nominate:
Mike Rouse
Kerron Cross
Gavin Whenman

I’m about to hop on a plane to the States so blogging will be non-existent for the rest of the day.  Will be back to blogging on Monday though. 

In my latest column for Total Politics magazine (which is on the shelves today) I argue that whilst trust is a noble virtue it nevertheless has little if any value when it comes to political appointments:

"In 1946 the American statesman Henry Stimson famously stated in an article entitled The Bomb and the Opportunity that: "The only way to make a man trustworthy is to trust him; and the surest way to make him untrustworthy is to distrust him and show your distrust." A noble sentiment indeed, but is it one that lends itself well to the political process? Certainly when an individual puts themselves up for election they are asking voters to trust them. Indeed, they are asking voters to trust them in the most fundamental of ways; to take decisions on their behalf. But when it comes to political appointments it has become all too clear recently that trust is a virtue perhaps best discarded in favour of scepticism."

Read the whole thing here. 

Have just been to the bank to pick up some dollars for my impending trip to Florida to visit my girlfriend (two weeks in the sun with nothing to do but relax and enjoy some time with my better half; it’s a hard-knock life).  Anyway, I walked into the bank, made my way to the cashier, paid in some cheques, and then promptly fell over (ok, not quite) when told the exchange rate was 1.79! 

Hmm, perhaps I should have listened to my girlfriend when she told me to exchange at 1.86 a few days ago…

It’s said that the public sector doesn’t pay very well, but that the perks of the job often more than make up for the salary shortfall.  Not so sure?  Well here’s a case in point, the opportunity to become the Quaffer-in-Chief  at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. 

Bottoms up:

As with every morning I logged onto Facebook and was presented with the usual array of group invitations (and as usual declined almost all); however one group completely threw me - Tories for Obama.  I’ll admit, I’ve met a few young conservatives who support Obama (although when you probe them they couldn’t actually tell you the first thing about his policies), but still, how can any conservative reconcile their own political beliefs and values with those of Obama?

The mind boggles.