For the Republicans, Michigan might be the turning point of the race for the presidential nomination. A loss here would likely deal a grave, if not fatal, blow to the aspirations of Mitt Romney, who was born and grew up in the state bordered by the Great Lakes and whose father was once a popular governor.

Mr. Romney has been quoted as saying:

“It’s personal for me because it’s where I was born and raised. We’re going to make sure this state gets on the move again. I care about Michigan. For me, it’s personal. “

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Not that he doesn’t deserve it.

He certainly had the moral upper hand against his erstwhile political rivals – traditional politicians with questionable track records and even links to organized crime – and seems to be deeply sincere in his desire to clean up politics in his area of the country. But winning the governorship of Pampanga, on a platform of moral uprightness and not much else, might lead to unfulfilled expectations and bitter disappointments for the people. This is the “Cory Aquino” effect, where an inexperienced, albeit blameless, housewife was effectively stymied in most of her programs by long-standing vested interests. Her own social-class background aligned her with these elite interests. She was perceived as weak and vacillating. It didn’t help that she was ill-served by many of her advisers and that her relatives took advantage of her alleged good and trusting nature to engage in rampant corruption. She was thus bedeviled by coup attempts and her term characterized by horrendous human rights abuses, the most bloody being the Mendiola Massacre of protesting farmers. Read the rest of this entry »

After the euphoria of Iowa, Hillary Clinton rained on what some hoped would be the Obama bandwagon by winning in New Hampshire. Taking a page from her husband’s rollercoaster 1992 political campaign, Hillary played the comeback kid this time, carried by the undecided female voters who were apparently touched by Mrs. Clinton’s open show of emotion during the days leading up to the primary. In near tears as she talked of her campaign travails and her vision for the presidency, an all too human Hillary was on view on the eve of the voting. She got 39% of the vote, as compared to Obama’s 36%.

As expected, Senator John McCain of Arizona carried the Republican side. Read the rest of this entry »

The University of the Philippines system officially launches the celebration of its centennial year with a series of activities at the Diliman campus intended to bringing together the community of alumni, students, faculty, non-teaching personnel and other stakeholders and boosters of the good old State U. This will include a motorcade, exhibits, fireworks and even a skydiving exhibition.

Apart from the usual festivities, the UP centennial celebration presents an opportunity to look back over the one hundred years of the university’s history and to gain a perspective for the future. Thus, the centennial theme of “UP: Excellence, Service, and Leadership in the Next 100 Years”.

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The Inquirer headlined, somewhat prematurely and with its usual sensationalism , “Black President in White House ?” as Sen. Barack Obama took the Iowa caucus for the Democratic Party, relegating former frontrunner New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to third place behind John Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina.

On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, came out of nowhere to edge out Mitt Romney, the Mormon multi-millionaire former Massachusetts governor, delivering a serious setback to Mr. Romney’s well-funded and well-organized campaign.

Party presidential bets in the U.S. are chosen in state caucuses or polls, where registered party members cast their votes for their respective parties’ candidates.

The record number of Democrats who turned out to caucus — more than 239,000, compared with about 108,000 Republicans - demonstrated the extent to which opposition to President Bush and the Iraq war has galvanized Democrats and should be a wake up call to Republicans regarding their chances in the November 2008 presidential elections. Read the rest of this entry »