John Kerry - man of the people.

[mart]

"Yet from any angle, John Kerry looks to be an unlikely champion of the underdog. As the New York Times helpfully revealed this month about the candidate it has endorsed, Kerry goes helicopter skiing in winter from his wife Teresa's 15th-century farmhouse, which was imported from Britain and reassembled in Idaho. In summer, Kerry windsurfs off Nantucket, where his wife has another home. There is also a 23-room townhouse in Washington, a 36-hectare Pittsburgh estate, a private Gulfstream jet and a personal staff of six. Thanks to the Wall Street Journal, we also know that the Kerrys paid only a 12.8 percent tax rate on their combined $US6.8 million income last year. Points worth noting, given that Edwards has been lamenting the fact that millionaires are sitting by their poolsides in the US, paying less tax than ordinary soldiers in Iraq. So, it seems, is his boss."

Mart

[Dickie Davies]

Good luck to you both - and us too.

Politics is about choices - yes, they are both millionaires - you Americans allow this.

I'm a Brit - I don't get a vote - but that won't stop me being disgusted if Bush confirms his coup d'etat from 2000 through his shameless scaremongering.

Frankly, if Bush wins, I'd be tempted to throw a brick through a window at the Us Embassy in London (I won't, of course, but don't expect us ever to join you without question again in anything).

We'll see what happens. Bush himself personally has caused this antagonism but it seems many Americans are unable (I'm seeing you both Mart and Bimmercat) to see this.

If Bush wins, the fun will really start. Hope you're ready. Bimmercat and Mart.

[Dickie Davies]

PS - just in case you need it spelling out, I'm going to target you both, personally. I'm sure I won't be alone.

[Illinoisblue]

Er Dickie, I think you'll find Mart is Welsh and lives in New Zealand, he's certainly not American.

Bimmercat mpst certainly is though.

[mart]

Hey, mistaken identity or something Dickie. Illinois is correct, I'm Welsh and living in NZ.

Mart

[Pervert]

The fault lies in the system. By the time a candidate becomes president, he's already sold his soul to the businesses that bankrolled his huge media campaign---and is expected to give something back very quickly.

The road to any substantial political power is usually crisscrossed with compromise and various ideals have to be jettisoned on the way. I still don't know what any of them get out of it, except for premature ageing and bouts of insomnia.