The wisdom of Vidal

Gore Vidal, veteran author of political fiction with a solid heart of fact, has been popping up on various political programmes over the last few days in the run up to his appearance at the Hay Literary Festival. Openly a supporter of Obama he is clearly biased, however his comments on Obama's rival are real gems. He described the Bush Republican dynasty and their circle as "a nest of ninnies" in conversation with Andrew Marr, while when answering the question of Sky political editor Adam Boulton, who asked if John McCain as a man in his 70s might bring maturity to the White House, Vidal responded: "No, senility." He also remarked that Hillary Clinton would be better suited to "a job in a law firm" than being President. While you can never be sure whether Vidal has influence, or if he gets wide coverage on US television, his comments are real gems and his reputation could gain him and his comments a lot of credibility. Certainly he seems to be keen, should Obama win the nomination, to fight his corner and undermine the McCain challenge.