-
Related
It's autumn in New York.
The weather (for once) is clement. Friends have that equinoctial eagerness to meet after work.
Summer holidays are done with, and children are back in school, relishing the joy of menacing weaker schoolmates in the playground with sharp implements.
The leaves are changing colour. In dying they commence their (for them) lengthy journey to the pavement, where cottage-sized orange vacuum cleaners on wheels patrol the gutters, sucking them away to who-knows-where.
The valedictory tone is useful, because of the striking nature of the seasons here. In Ecclesiastes we are reminded, "To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven," a note especially applicable to the endless seasons of the American political carnival.
As the leaves disappear from the trees, foliage of a different kind livens the street light poles, advertisements (cheaply bought) for political candidates, usually avuncular-looking attractive men and women whose faces have been expunged of any sexual ambition.
It's primary season, the time when the two parties in the United States, the Democrats and Republicans (or, if you wish to construe them in New Zealand terms: National and Act) choose their candidates for November, and the mid-term congressional elections. Despite the fact that parties rather than presidents contest these, they will still be viewed as a referendum on how President Obama is doing.
By any measure he's doing poorly, or at least his party is. Generic matchups of Republicans vs. Democrats favour Republicans by 49/40 percent.
Some say the Democrats are in worse shape now that in 1994, when a tide of Republicans washed though the lower and upper houses of Congress. It was the first time they had been able to do so in 40 years.
Mr Obama's problems include an unemployment rate that remains at around 9.6%, and an economy still in the doldrums.
He is in the paradoxical position of being further hampered by his three main legislative achievements (the stimulus bill, which is generally agreed to have been to insufficient to be effective, the healthcare legislation, which is possibly the reverse, and financial reform, which no one cares about).
Democrats, where they are standing, have expunged Mr Obama from their campaign propaganda; an indication of how much of a political liability the president has become.
But the Republicans are not without troubles. Members of a splinter group within the Republican ambit called "Tea (Or Taxed Enough Already) Party" candidates have done very well during this primary season, overturning those offered by the party establishment.
Tea Partiers are inclined to invite their supporters to "go get your muskets". They are the rebarbative right wing, and their energy, enthusiasm and rhetoric energises fellow-believers, and horrifies independent voters, the very people Republicans hope to attract.
Yet it's doubtful any split in the Republican party will be sufficient to neutralise the apocalypse being contemplated by Democrats.
The mixture of uncertainty, repetition and fatigue (voting, again? So soon?) can only highlight the benefits of non-participation.
Traditionally non-presidential elections attract far fewer voters than the presidential ones.
The turnouts for this November may be even lower, so marked is the disconnect between Americans and their political system. As I was walking along 110th Street today, a man holding a sheaf of fliers asked me if I'd voted yet. I told him I couldn't, not being a citizen, and added 'mate' using my softest vowels to ensure the message was delivered.
How strange. As a foreigner and an alien, I am completely in synch with many many Americans.
World News Video
-
Dangerous rush to Everest summit (1:59)
-
Dozens killed in Syrian massacre (2:09)
-
'King of Romance' competes in Eurovision (1:46)
