In addition to offering high praise for The Audacity of Hope, Phillip Adams writes in the January 15th edition of The Australian of similarities between recently elected progressive Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia and progressive U.S. Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama. Adams forecasts a stronger alliance between Australia and the United States under a President Obama than existed during the overlapping adminstrations of George W. Bush and Prime Minister John Howard. As many international observers have informed AR, Adams echoes widespread foreign sentiment wishing for the privilege of participating in our presidential election due to the power of the American presidency in world affairs.
In domestic politics for the two countries, Adams finds that both Rudd and Obama are committed to a healthy respect for the role of religion in public life and adhere to a degree of social conservatism. Interestingly, Adams compares the Australian "change vs. experience" debate with the one raging currently in the United States and forecasts a parallel outcome:
It's interesting that Hillary Clinton's attack on Obama echoes Howard's on Rudd.
She seeks to de-emphasise generational change and cast doubt on his depth of
experience. If Obama gets the nomination that'll be the Republican strategy: you
can't elect a boy to do a man's job. Well, that approach didn't work here. I
don't think it will work there.
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