http://www.ft.com/comment/columnists/clivecrookhttp://www.ft.com/rss/comment/columnists/clivecrookFT.com - Clive Crooken© Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2008. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times.support@ft.comSun, 11 May 2008 18:37 BSTTue, 13 May 2008 18:00:22 BSTNewspapers60http://news.ft.com/cms/d1f3ce1a-6bbe-11da-bb53-0000779e2340.gifhttp://www.ft.com/comment/columnists/clivecrook(PICS-1.1 "http://www.classify.org/safesurf/" L gen true for "http://www.ft.com/" r (SS~~000 1))http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9a6dd3b6-1f51-11dd-9216-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9a6dd3b6-1f51-11dd-9216-000077b07658.htmlAn Obama-McCain contest in November then presents a novel prospect – an election in which the candidates devote more effort to challenging each other's ideas than to questioning each other's character and good faith, writes Clive Crook Sun, 11 May 2008 18:37 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/35be5586-19ce-11dd-ba02-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/35be5586-19ce-11dd-ba02-0000779fd2ac.htmlAre wavering Democrats right to be moving to Hillary Clinton? Would she be a more effective opponent against John McCain? I think not. The unelected super-delegates backing Mr Obama are doing what is best for the Democrats, even if they do not realise it, writes Clive Crook Sun, 4 May 2008 18:54 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dbe898c2-145b-11dd-a741-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dbe898c2-145b-11dd-a741-0000779fd2ac.htmlThere is one possible way out, one way to redeem this hash of an electoral system. At the party's urging, Obama and Clinton could run on the same ticket. Could either agree to give way to the other? Unlikely, but it would be unwise to rule it out, says Clive Crook Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:51 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ece37f30-0ef1-11dd-9646-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ece37f30-0ef1-11dd-9646-0000779fd2ac.htmlThe former first lady's task in Pennsylvania of overturning her Democratic opponent's lead looks impossible, writes Clive Crook.The striking thing is that her diminished prospects are not the consequence of a flawlessly conducted campaign by her rival. Far from itSun, 20 Apr 2008 17:28 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d5116a24-0952-11dd-81bf-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d5116a24-0952-11dd-81bf-0000779fd2ac.htmlCompetition for "most damaging legacy of the Bush administration" is lively. Iraq is the front-runner, of course. All three presidential contenders criticise the administration on this, but none is offering much improvement, writes Clive Crook Sun, 13 Apr 2008 17:16 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0d0bcb40-03db-11dd-b28b-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0d0bcb40-03db-11dd-b28b-000077b07658.htmlUnless you argue that banks should face no capital adequacy regulation, the spread of securitisation demands new liquidity standards and higher capital ratios. Whether you call that 'stricter regulation' or 'keeping regulation up to date' is semantic, writes Clive Crook Sun, 6 Apr 2008 18:38 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f51018e4-fe52-11dc-9e04-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f51018e4-fe52-11dc-9e04-000077b07658.htmlIn bad times, the risks that adventurous investors take burden the rest of us. Insisting that losing gamblers pay up is necessary, but not enough, writes Clive Crook Sun, 30 Mar 2008 19:18 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bba33fe6-f8da-11dc-bcf3-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bba33fe6-f8da-11dc-bcf3-000077b07658.htmlThe separation of presidential politics from the troubles assailing the US economy is now verging on the surreal. With banks collapsing and the dollar reeling, the candidates are still on scripts they wrote a year ago, writes Clive Crook Sun, 23 Mar 2008 16:10 GMThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/857cb7a2-f377-11dc-b6bc-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/857cb7a2-f377-11dc-b6bc-0000779fd2ac.htmlObama will have other chances to be president and in low moments he may feel there are worse things in the meantime than being vice-president, writes Clive Crook Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:03 GMThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4a871774-edf9-11dc-a5c1-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4a871774-edf9-11dc-a5c1-0000779fd2ac.htmlUS policymakers are unable to agree what they should do about the credit crisis. Adjusting bankruptcy laws to encourage writedowns and make repossession more difficult may do little to help right now, but at least it makes no new demands on taxpayers, says Clive Crook Sun, 9 Mar 2008 19:31 GMThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/152f0a4a-eae9-11dc-a5f4-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/152f0a4a-eae9-11dc-a5f4-0000779fd2ac.htmlThanks to Texas and especially Ohio, there is a gleam in Hillary Clinton's teeth once more, writes Clive Crook Wed, 5 Mar 2008 19:41 GMThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/758526dc-e877-11dc-913a-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/758526dc-e877-11dc-913a-0000779fd2ac.htmlIn choosing between the New York senator and Obama, character is key because their differences on policy are trivial, writes Clive Crook Sun, 2 Mar 2008 18:58 GMThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/de5746be-e2e5-11dc-803f-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/de5746be-e2e5-11dc-803f-0000779fd2ac.htmlIf Obama becomes the Democratic nomination in the race for the White House, the issue of personality will subside and leave space for an overdue debate about policy with McCain, his near-certain Republican rival, writes Clive Crook Sun, 24 Feb 2008 19:25 GMThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ced8da3e-dd6f-11dc-ad7e-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ced8da3e-dd6f-11dc-ad7e-0000779fd2ac.html If Obama is elected, indecision, drift and triangulation are one possibility. Another is that the office wears away his pragmatism to reveal a dogmatist. But perhaps he really can transcend Washington's paralysis and build support for reforms, writes Clive Crook Sun, 17 Feb 2008 18:40 GMThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4c003b86-d7ff-11dc-98f7-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4c003b86-d7ff-11dc-98f7-0000779fd2ac.htmlWhat makes Barack Obama remarkable is that his message of hope, resonating so powerfully with black America, is cast to every American, regardless of colour, to Democrats and Republicans alike, writes Clive Crook Sun, 10 Feb 2008 18:10 GMT