(Sydney NSW) Nov. 5, 2008 The folks in Sydney Australia have gone wild for two days in a row.
On Tuesday, the town came to a (relatively speaking) stand still while the Melbourne Cup was run. It is the Aussie equivalent of the Kentucky Derby and all work stopped in mid-afternoon so that workers could watch the race. The ladies dressed up for a fashionable day at work just as if they were actually going to the race track. One sports bar in the Kings Cross section was full of enthusiastic fans at three in the afternoon. The local betting office did business in the "Great Oklahoma Land Rush" fashion as race time approached.
On Wednesday, November 5, locals crowded into the Manning Bar on the campus of the University of Sidney. They did wait until noon before they opened the bar. News coverage of the event included a CNN camera crew.
With each projection in Senator Obama's favor the room would erupt into wild enthusiastic applause. The awarding of Ohio to the Democratic candidate brought the loudest cheering of the day.
A local newspaper passed along the information that a recent pole had indicated a 70%aproval rating for Obama among Aussies.
It was three in the afternoon when Senator Obama was projecteded to be the winner.
George W. Bush's chance to declare a McCain win as a retroactive referendum on war crimes seems to have slipped away and the lame duck President should get better legal advice than the military strategy advice he used before invading Iraq, because if he doesn't prepare a top notch legal game plan, he may very well see his legacy sink to an even lower level.
Obviously President elect Obama has an abundance of challenging problems to address after he is inaugurated.
Pundits who are addicted to the adrenaline rush of Bush bashing will soon face withdrawal symptoms and will have to find some new excitementnt to fill their lives.
Now the question for columnists is: Will this site want a review of the movie "Australia" or what?
Jack Lang once gave this bit Australian advice: "Always back the horse named self-interest, son. It'l be the only one trying."
Now, the disk jockey will play the kangaroo song
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=aPu-C5vvzU4
and we'll hop along. Have a "walkabout" type week.
