Hillary pulls it off! I thought she might lose New Hampshire. Well – so did the polls. But that’s what makes politics so exciting – for all the polling predictions and pundit pontification, in the end – it’s the public who get their say.

I came across a conversation last night in Central Lobby (in Parliament) between three men – all from ethnic minorities. Two were for Clinton and one for Obama. The conversation was interesting in that there clearly was a feeling (not hugely strong – but enough to make this discussion happen) about being black and not supporting Obama because they were Clinton fans. In the end, for these two, supporting the candidate they thought would make the better President of the United States won out over supporting a black candidate because of the good that too would do. In the end, we will really have made it when it’s not even an issue for discussion. Equality really has a long way still to go.

A postscript about Iowa: those scenes of hundreds of people turning up to squeeze into venues to do politics for several hours were really impressive, but once the immediate impact of those pictures fade I’m left with the more sobering thought that for all the effort, money, hype, enthusiasm and choice of different candidates – turnout in the Democrat caucuses was only a bit over 10%. And that was with turnout at record high levels! So – although as I said, the public do get the final say in politics, it’s a good reminder of how much work there is to do on both sides of the Atlantic to persuade people that say is real and worthwhile.