Obama or Clinton: What do Americans want America to be?

Barack Obama is flying high, but Hillary Clinton is fighting back, writes Karen McCarthy.

IN DC people watch politics like other people watch sports. So said Ben Connors, a 24-year-old news editor, referring to the political sophistication of the capital’s residents. He plays bingo with his pals, not with numbers, but with the number of times President George W Bush will use a word in a speech. They have pizza and beer in front of a debate, when the rest of America is in front of a match.

But there’s none of the New York in-your-face exuberance here. There are no boisterous mobs squatting on street corners waving campaign signs at honking motorists.