Why is their politics cooler than ours?

Barack Obama definitely has the wind in his sails as he heads towards a possible (probable?) Democratic nomination. And an increasingly cool wind it is too. The latest foray of pop into politics sees hip-hop grandee, Wiil.i.am, front man for the Black Eyed Peas and producer of the Pussycat Dolls, lend his voice in support of Obama in the way he knows best; a pop video. The combination of Obama’s spoken words and singing raises the hairs on the back of the neck, recalling the great black-and-white orators of yesteryear, King and Kennedy, and bringing Obama a mantle of cool to which European politicians can only aspire. 13 million people have already seen this video, with one million a day logging on. What MEP would not give his or her eye teeth for that level of exposure?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY&rel=1]

For cool, also read sexy. Obama-Girl’s song “I have a crush on Obama” also gained six million hits or so on YouTube. Perhaps we will see “I have a crush on Barroso” by Barroso-Girl sometime soon, but somehow I doubt it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKsoXHYICqU&rel=1]

As we head towards the dog-end of the second Bush administration, and as the US election battle becomes the greatest show on earth, there is no doubt that their politics is much cooler than ours. Annoying, but true.