McCain’s anger is well known, but it’s understanding what led to it that really helps you predict where it might take him. Similarly, we are all familiar with Hillary’s do-anything-to-win persona, but only when we learn what fuels it can we understand its power and, therefore, her ultimate fate. This is an understanding that I have gained through a year of study, and that’s what my book is all about.

 

Clinton’s recent fanning of the flames around Obama’s pastor controversy is, I believe, a good example of an increasingly prominent aspect of her psyche: her self destruct button. The media strung the story out for all it was worth, and Clinton was benefiting nicely by sitting on the sidelines, but she couldn’t resist wading in, thereby deflecting a swathe of the unfavorable attention back on herself, and the increasingly evident scorched earth policy of her campaign.

I predict that the heat on Obama from both sides will get a lot worse before it gets better, but the “plague on both your houses” nature of these drives spouting forth from both Clinton and McCain (more Clinton at the moment), will ultimately undermine their own candidacies.

Nothing, of course, is guaranteed in politics but Obama’s position is certainly stronger – not just politically or statistically, but psychologically. Obama’s uncertainty around his background and fractured identity seems to have practically forced him to undergo a journey of inner reconciliation and exploration during his formative years. This has left him with a degree of self awareness that is rare in a politician, and that’s why so many people who have not been involved in politics before have been drawn to him. We may well be in store for a profound renewal on many levels, the likes of which global politics rarely sees.

The words “watch this space” have never been more apt…