Three Apple Carts

The Political Betting blog is asking whether the best White House bet is for Romney to win. We all know that Romney is a Mormon and like all of us this side of the pond one does not know quite how to react to a Mormon with their, to us, strange customs or beliefs. Will the fact he's a Mormon make some people in the USA wary of voting for him? Why should we think they are like aliens from outer space when these days we accept without question and find quite normal all sorts of people with different colours and religions? Is it because we are perhaps a little afraid of sects where the members are somewhat cliquey? Romney may be a little less cliquey than most Mormons having been born in Mexico, brought up in Michigan and lived in France for 30 months, albeit as a Mormon missionary. Will this make him more electable than a Utah brought up Mormon or does the fact that he's a Mormon have little bearing on voting intentions in the USA? We all know he made a fortune as a co-founder and partner in Bain Capital and has used this fortune to promote his political career. Folklore says that he needs to win the South Carolina Primary in order to be sure of the Republican nomination. Will he do it? Possibly but Newt Gingrich did rather well in the latest TV debate and could yet upset Romney's apple cart. Talking of apple carts it is outrageous that that excuse for a court, the European Court of Human Rights, has overruled a House of Lords decision that Abu Qatada, a man who arrived here on a false passport, could be deported back to Jordan for trial on terrorist charges. It is long past the time we should have thrown off the jurisdiction of the ECHR. If the highest court in our country decides that Qatada can be sent back to a country to be tried for his alleged crimes where evidence may have been procured by torture why should we allow that decision to be overruled? An apple cart that certainly needs upsetting though is Alex Salmond's and the man to do it could be Daniel Hannan who it is to be hoped the government will use in their campaign for the continuance of the Union. Hannan's blog today makes him pre-eminently suitable for such a role which you can read here.