Yay! A civics lesson from one of the small minority of Americans that both understands and cares about the American election process. Yes, that's me. I do apologize if I insert a little of my own opinion in here, but it's too strong to repress. I know you guys don't live in America, but when the leader of the free world changes (especially a leader as universally disliked a George Bush), you oughta know, but you probably aren't even getting a smidgen of the coverage we're getting here. There was a lot more coverage here in America about Tony Blair than you'd expect.
America has two main parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. Each party runs it's own election to pick it's Presidential candidate. This part of the election started in early 2007, and is still going on. Each state runs an election for each party where the voters pick who they want to represent their party. The candidates spend their time first campaigning in the early states, then expand their campaign nationwide once more states start to vote. The first states voted in January, but the reason Super Tuesday is so huge is because 22 states, almost half the country, have their elections on that day. These party-specific elections continue until one candidate per party has won enough support to have a majority, and that candidate is formally crowned at the end of this part of the election, at each party's convention. Once that finishes, those two run against each other in a general election for President, where all the states vote on the same day.
This particular presidential campaign has been very exciting for those in America that follow it. One party, the Democrats (liberal) are down to two major candidates, both of which would be historic. Those are Barack Obama (a black man) and Hillary Clinton (remember that guy named Bill Clinton?). Even after the Super Tuesday elections, with over half of the country having voted, neither Dem candidate has a clear lead over the other. They share many of the same positions. I've personally picked Barack Obama for very simple reasons. I've always been a Democrat, and Hillary Clinton is universally hated by the Republicans, and would be even more divisive than George Bush was. That's not what this country needs right now. And, Barack Obama is an incredible orator, the likes of which I've never seen. Ideally that kind of charisma will bring a sense of unity back to this country, which it hasn't had since JFK. This is the speech he made after Super Tuesday, where he broke even with Hillary Clinton.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/lin ... 1407950326
On the other side, the Republicans (Conservatives) are also down to two candidates. One of them is John McCain, a Vietnam war vet, but a guy that has a history of actually trying to work with the Democrats to get things done. Because of this, he's being labeled as a liberal Republican, not a true conservative, etc. I honestly wouldn't mind if McCain gets elected, especially if he makes crotchety religious conservative types nervous. The other guy is Mike Huckabee, a baptist minister who is far behind but trying to make a comeback, riding the support of all the conservatives that are freaking out about John McCain. But, Mike is far behind, and McCain will almost definitely get the Republican nomination.