I've been in America 12 days now, and a lot has happened while I've been here.
The Democratic and Republican conventions have probably been centre-stage, with both campaign machines kicking into full speed ahead of November's elections.
The Democrats orchestrated a stunning week of speeches and ceremonies, leaving many wondering how the Republicans could follow suit. From Michelle Obama's inspired opening speech on the Monday, to the epic acceptance speech given by Barack on the Thursday night, the party looked united, strong and ready to win.
But then on Friday morning, the McCain campaign sent shockwaves through the US media when it announced that his running mate was Sarah Palin. 'Who?' everyone asked. The 44-year-old, little-known governor from the remote state of Alaska was thrusted into the limelight.
At first, the general reaction, especially amongst Democratic-sympathisers, seemed to be a combination of confusion and glory.
"What on earth were the McCain campaign thinking? How transparent of them to try and tap into Hillary's supporters this way! But nevermind, it'll backfire in minutes and we'll win," was the sentiment.
Then the headlines were temporarily distracted as Hurricane Gustav made its way towards New Orleans and worried the world that there may be a Katrina Part II. Especially Republicans, who after the failures of leadership as Katrina struck, were so concerned not to repeat their mistakes that they all but cancelled the first day of their convention to focus on the storm.
The Republican Convention was finally underway on Tuesday, and it seemed every white, middle-aged Republican polished up their Sunday best to sit in an arena in St. Paul and applaud their new heroes - John McCain and Sarah Palin. I couldn't spot a black face in the crowd.
But the week's 'highlight' was when Sarah Palin made her speech on Wednesday night. We'd had a week of cable network news, analysing everything they could get their hands on about the vice-presidential pick. We'd learnt that her teenage daughter was pregnant; that she was involved in a dodgy sacking scandal about an Alaskan trooper who'd upset a relative; that she loved guns and didn't like abortion; that he husband was great on a snow-mobile...
The list could go on. A guy I know called Sean Gilfillan wrote a blog for the Huffington Post, criticising Palin for having no academic experience (a BS in communications with a minor in political science - which he aptly dismissed as 'BS').
But then she took the stage in St. Paul, and something unexpected happened. She delivered a great speech, full of enthusiasm. The standing ovations he received as she walked on stage went on for about five minutes. She then proceeded to talk about her family (a mandatory part of campaigns here, it seems), ripped into Barack Obama's policies and fire up the Republican grass-roots with little if any mention of policy. The low-point for me and the people I watched it with was when she dismissed reading suspected terrorists 'their rights', as if legal procedure and human rights were pathetic.
I fear this woman may be further right of our beloved George W. Bush.
Someone told me this week that there's a very high chance that, if elected to serve two terms, McCain is more likely to die than survive his office. This would make Sarah Palin president. I'm all for a fair and balanced (no pun intended) race to the White House, but I can't think of anything worse than President Palin. It would make the Bush administration look tame.
Beyond the elections, there's another storm in the news and it's heading up the coast to where I'm staying. Tropical Storm Hanna will be the first Caribbean storm that I'll have contact with while I've been in the US over the lat year, and I'm quite curious to see how it'll compare to the drab rain we get in London. It's just a shame, as we've had stunning weather all week in New England and have a day or two of heavy rain in store.
By Joe Braiwood, in Providence, Rhode Island
