Whither Democracy?

Ah. I am getting serious again - *tears eyes from Hugh Jackman photo with effort*.

See anything wrong with this picture? The headlines on this page go, "More than 6 million people view Kerry on Iraq documentary" and "Kerry on Iraq" and "Who is John Kerry?" The menu gives subsection titles "Kerry Corner", "Kerry vs Kerry" and "Kerryopoly". In short, about 90% of the space on the front page of this website is devoted to John Kerry.

Welcome to the Republican National Committee's home on the internet, where Dubya's place of honour is a small, translucent image at the bottom left corner of the page.

The Democrats, surprisingly enough after that experience with the 'better half', sport a suitably grinning Kerry/Edwards duo right on top and an appeal for support. The references to Bush are few and far wittier ('Kerryopoly', honestly) - "$1 a day to make Bush go away!" Can't say that doesn't sound like a good deal.

I suppose the Dems do have an easier time of it, what with Bush not being in their camp. And of course, "It's time for a change" is usually easier to sell than "More of the same." I suppose that's why the Reublicans decided to roll up their sleeves and get on with the slander campaign; might as well, since they don't have much else to go on.

Leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, doesn't it?

So I decided to click homeward - checked out BJP's charmingly unsophisticated web presence. It's a novel experience - sad little passport shots of Vajpayee and Advani and Naidu, a few 'news' stories culled from the notoriously slanted Pioneer, menu staring out from a gawky yellow background. All the time you're thinking, is this for real? This is it - this is their official website!

Then when a google for "Congress Party" failed to turn out the required result, I panicked. There was a www.indiannationalcongress.org a few results down the page that didn't work - and in any case, I didn't think they were still calling themselves that. (Didn't they split into Congress-I and O and then a million offshoots so these guys became plain 'Congress Party'?) But I looked here and there a bit and got where I wanted through a cache... It turns out they do call themselves the Indian National Congress. It's a slick site alright, all the bells and whistles and demure-but-smiling picture of Sonia in place. Their banner's this collage of all the Congress leaders ever, with Gandhi heading the bunch. The nerve, eh? But if they're calling themselves INC again, why not, I guess.

But well, no smearing here. I'm proud of that.