-TSS-

Wilders' party's election-defeat doesn't mean that the Dutch would have all of a sudden fallen in love with mass-immigration. It only means that they are pissed off with the party forcing this completely unnecessary early election. The electoral term is four years and the election before was in 2010.

PaUL Ryan is against abortion even in case of rape or incest. I don't think that will go down too well even with those who are in principle against abortion but agree to allow it in such extreme cases or if the mother's life is in danger.

Perhaps federalism in a bit outdated form of government belonging to times when communications were more primitive than today. Maybe even a country as vast as Canada could function as a unitary country as long as there is cohesiveness.

West-Jerusalem is in Israel and East-Jerusalem in the Palestine-territory. The only problem is that Israel considers Jerusalem as indivisible that is what they say now, not necessarily forever.

I believe that Ryan will be the Republicans' candidate in 2016 if Romney loses now. It is possible that Ryan could be their candidate in 2016 even if Romney wins now. I just can't see Romney being a very successful president and seeking a second term if he gets elected this time around.

Correct me if I'm wrong but Turkey must be the largest country on earth which has a unicameral parliament. However, Turkey is a unitary country, therefore they have no real need for a second chamber in Parliament. In federal countries the lower chamber represents the people and the so-called upper chamber traditionally represents the regions of that federation. I'm not sure how would a system of having a unicameral legislature work in a federal country.

Obama is ahead in the polls at the moment but there's still two months to go and many people are disillusioned with Obama as he faced so many totally unrealistic expectations four years ago. The economy is not in a good shape, which is always bad news for the incumbent president looking for re-election. My bet is that Romney will eventually win and mainly because too many of those people who four years ago so enthusiastically voted for Obama don't bother to turn up at the polls this time around. Of course, there is the possibility that Romney's tax-records reveal something very bad, which will destroy his campaign. Obama should try to make MediCare the centre theme of his campaign as the popular view is that Romney, and especially Ryan, are going to slash Medicare for being unaffordable. Most elderly Americans across party-allegiances like MediCare and any politician who ignores the views of elderly people is risking an election defeat.

Usually elections are won by those who can conquer the centre but not this time, at least not so much. This time it is all about being able to lure your core-voters to the polls. That's why I think Romney will win. Choosing someone like Ryan would backfire in normal circumstances as he has some very extreme views which would alienate the moderates but which are fully endorsed by the core-republicans. Moreover, many people who voted for Obama four years ago are disillusioned. The greatest asset Obama has is that he is undisputably a more likeable guy of the two. Romney wil have to convince the electorate that being a nice guy is one thing and being a good President is another.

That was a bit of news to me that the convention approved of Romney's choice of Ryan as a VP-candidate. Previously I thought the nominee can pick anyone he likes but apparently the convention must agree. Well,that must be just a formality. On the other hand, didn't Nixon have hard time to have Spiro Agnew acepted as his running-mate?

I think the funniest line was as someone said that let's help Obama finally get a job in the private sector, hopefully as soon as January.

It is strange how there still seems to be uncertainty as to which issues belong to the federal government and which issues to the states. The duties of the federal government are meticulously listed and by supposition anything which is not mentioned is considered as state's responsibility.

These conventions are mostly just formalities as the primaries have decided who gets the nomination. However, what happens if the primaries have been so tight thatnone of the candidates has more than 50% of the delegates? Do the candidates with fewer delegates get eliminated until there are only two and then the supporters of the eliminated candidates get to decide which one of the remaining two wins?

The latest poll is showing that states leaning to Obama would give him 221 electoral colege votes and the states leaning to Romney would him him 191 votes. The rest being too close to call. Florida and Ohio among such states.

You're not being serious, are you?

I wonder how much time they will give Ryan to make his speech. He is the asset of the Romney-campaign but there is a danger that he might steal the show.

Bad manners? Most definetely! Hate crime? Get out of here!

It was an interesting article I just read how Paul Ryan made his first speech after being selected as VP-candidate and he was speaking in Iowa, a state which is in a very good economic shape compared to the rest of the country. When some people in the audience were interviewed they said that Ryan as being catholic gave them a sense of security as they did not trust Romney who is a mormon, which they considered as unchristian. In the case of the US never ever underestimate the importance of religion!

It's going to be one of the dirtiest campaigns ever. However, I think that as there is no feel good-factor at the present people will listen again the candidate who promises a change and new hope, the same tired old rhetoric used time and again but every time it appeals to the people. Obama will no doubt make Medicare as the center of the campaign as not Romney himself but his running-mate Paul Ryan has made statements how the whole system should be slashed. The American people regardless of their political persuasion like Medicare and want it to be kept but as the population is rapidly ageing it needs some reform to remain affordable.

You may well be right. Obama is very unlikely to win any states he lost in 2008 and many states he won four years ago have turned sour on him for failing to bring in miracles expected of him.

Indeed, the latest poll 47-46 in Obama's favour. That is such a close margin that it is easily within the margin of error especially as we well know that republicans are more likely to turn up to vote. I personally hope that Obama wins but I think Romney will take the victory unless, unless, the ongoing episode with his tax-returns somehow reveals something very nasty which will blow in his face.

The thing is that of the two candidates Romney simply has to present himself as a more competent candidate by a margin of miles. Otherwise he has no hope as if it came to choosing between the two based on which one of them is a nicer guy Obama would win hands down. As for Obama, he can't keep on blaming the previous administration for the economic mess. How long can a government or a president blame the previous government or president for all the problems? Up to a point but there is a limit. Even though most people agree that Obama is not to be blamed for the economic troubles caused by the financial crisis four years ago, he has been put in his position to fix things. If he can't do that he is useless.

I saw that soccer-match between Canada and the USA and I agree that it was a gross miscarriage of justice.

One must remember what a tiny plot of land Israel really is. Therefore it is essential for them to prevent any attacks on them as they could not survive in a similar fashion as their much larger neighbours.

Romney nominates Congressman Paul Ryan as his running-mate in the election. Not a great surprise there then.

Is there any particular reason why black people are not good at swimming? It is easy to say that people from African countries may be lagging behind in that sport as it requires pricey investments in swimming halls and other facilities and those countries have more urgent things to spend their money on but it does not explain why black people living in Western-Europe or North-America rarely excel at that sport.