Every four years a group of combatants, many of whom have trained their whole lives just for this moment, go toe-to-toe in a winner-take-all contest that bestows glory, if not necessarily honour, on the winner.
It’s not the Olympics. It’s much more ruthless than that. I’m talking about the 2012 US Presidential elections.
If you’re like me, you’ll be interested in what happens in the US. Even in the midst of an economic crisis, they’re still a world superpower and decisions taken there tend to have an impact around the world. It’s nice to know who’s in charge and therefore, what you might expect.
If you’re like me, you’re probably not fond of all the usual talking heads, whose coverage of the elections as is much about their media mogul status as it is about the facts.
I’m not an American, so I don’t need to know the minutiae of who-said-what at which town hall meeting. I just want to know what’s going on, have a laugh as I learn about it and generally speaking, cut through the crap.
So if you’re like me, you might want to check out So You Wanna Be America’s Next President? and if you’re in Australia (or have an IP mask), supplement that with ABC’s Planet America.
SYWBANP is published by a couple of Dutch guys. Though left leaning, there’s no intense skin-in-the-game agenda evident in their coverage. Their mission is to take a look at what’s going on and generally see the lighter side of America’s political olympics. Right now, all the activity is with the Republicans, so that where the coverage is focused (and where the laughs are coming from). The stranger the candidate, the better – and there are certainly some characters in this year’s race.
They not only cover the main players, they also introduce us to a few potential fringe dwellers, too. Perhaps a glimpse into America’s future. Today, for example, I learned about Governor Chris Christie from New Jersey, a potential Republican candidate in 2016 and a man who if his actual work is as accomplished as his oral skills, will make for an even more compelling Republican primary season in four years from now.
SYWBANP is also run by one of my former colleagues from Saab, which is how I found out about it.
Planet America has ABC News Radio’s John Barron playing straight man with The Chaser’s Chad Licciardello doing all the reality-based jokes. It’s on every Friday night and makes for some very informative viewing, often with some insightful special guests from both the US and Australia.
So, for the non-Americans who want to keep an eye on what’s going on there, check ’em out.
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