There seems to be an Obama mania sweeping across the United States at the moment. He is being variously portrayed as the new Messiah, the new broom that is going to sweep away the sorry legacy of George Bush; and the brand ambassador of a vibrant, young America.

As an outsider, I find it surprising how often US political debate descends to the level of cherchez la femme. This is particularly apparent during Presidential campaigns. Dukakis had his dangerous liaisons, Bill Clinton had Gennifer Flowers; and now John McCain is purported to have had (literally) a former female lobbyist, Vicky Iseman. Discovering that a candidate has had an amour proper is regarded as the ultimate smoking gun; one that has the potential to annihilate entire careers.

The French, of course, would laugh at this absurdity. Nicolas Sarkozy positively flaunted the gorgeous Carla Bruni (until he later ruined it by marrying her) and his people loved him for it. But in America, having, or admitting to, a brief lapse in hormonal judgment is regarded as the kiss of death. This is particularly hypocritical in a nation where a recent survey revealed that more than half of all couples in America are living together (primarily for sex) without a marriage certificate.

I am kind of surprised that conspiracy theorists and assorted nut jobs have gone underground in this US election year. Come to think of it, they haven’t surfaced at all. Come on guys, some of the Presidential candidates are out there are tailor made for spinning conspiracies around. Get your heads out of your rear ends and start squawking. I’ll even give you a few pointers to start you off.

The simple answer is: no they are not – not in the conventional sense, anyway. White Americans can take justifiable pride in how far and how rapidly they have allowed their black fellow citizens (I apologize for not using the politically correct nomenclature “African-American”, but “black” is much shorter) to progress during the past four decades. To get a palpable sense of this, just watch any Hollywood movie made in the 1930s and 1940s. The only roles written for blacks were those where they were portrayed as mentally-challenged, wide eyed zombies who referred to all white men as “massah”: or faithful family retainers.

That Bill and Hillary Clinton have a soft spot for India is well known. During the Clintons’ state visit to India – and on subsequent trips – they have made themselves hugely popular to Indians; particularly those living in rural areas. Now, one of the Clintons’ Indian connections is threatening to rock Hillary’s presidential campaign boat.

Not many Americans would have heard of India-born Vin Gupta, who now lives in Nebraska. Gupta is the founder of the consumer listing firm, InfoUSA. He made his fortune turning information into content; long before the idea became popular. In 1971, Gupta was a 25 year old market research analyst with Commodore Corporation; when he commandeered some 4800 Yellow Pages into a goldmine of consumer information – and launched InfoUSA. The company now has annual revenues of $400 million.

Ask any average American man-on-the-street to name the US Presidential candidates for 2008 and, chances are, he will recall Hillary Clinton, Barrack Obama, John McCain – and Al Gore. Wait a minute: Al Gore isn’t running for President. Well, maybe not yet: but a whole lot of Americans think he is or, at least, are hoping he will.

Al Gore is the stealth bomber of the 2008 US Presidential campaign. He is not officially visible on the election radar, but his presence looms, large and powerful. Should he eventually decide to run – and some political pundits think he will – he will arrive on the election stage like a force of nature; and scare the crap out of his rivals, both Democratic and Republican.