US politics tend to have a slight global air to them, and yet as an outsider they're also something far removed and largely irrelevant. That said, as someone who should probably just stay out of it, the 2008 election is catching my eye quite early. The reason is simple, Barrack Obama.

Seriously, the guy has a lot going for him. Bush, Kerry, Gore, and more locally, Blair, Brown and Cameron all seem to be politicians have read books on charisma but didn't quite understand the subtlties of the subject. From what I've seen Obama actually has charisma though, and to that extent I want him to win. Oh I don't care about policies, the guy just manages to make politics more human and I like that.

Here in the UK Charles Kennedy was about the closest we've had in our political front-runners and I suspect a lot of that was because he felt so many people wouldn't take him seriously no matter what that he could relax and deliver rather than stress about the final few votes and pander to certain groups. Or that he was drunk I guess, but that's too easy a joke so we'll move on.

But Obama and Kennedy both have something engaging about them. I even wonder if Obama has enough charisma to help prevent the apathetic errirsion that's striking so many Western nations these days. Certainly given a good run at the Whitehouse there's a chance he'll help get people to the polls, both for and against him.

Of course there's always a chance that would happen regardless of charisma; let's not pretend that race is completely irrelevant in the topic. Nor is gender - Hillary Clinton will almost certainly see increased polling because she's a woman making a serious run too. Both represent barriers which need to be broken down. Alone they'd probably stand head and shoulders above the field, yet together they manage to make this seem more like a race.

The irony is that as both are Democrats the bonus of being different will probably be somewhat nullified by the fact that they'll have to beat another minority to win the nomination. Which of course leads to the potential need for the runner up to run as vice-president and I can't imagine Hillary doing that. And despite swearing off the idea will the Republicans convince Condalezza Rice to put herself forward? Surely that's too cynical even for a politician right?