Here are my New Year Predictions for 2015
- Those who voted YES in the Scottish Referendum will continue to behave as though they won. This may be unhelpful.
- Those who voted NO in the Scottish Referendum will continue to behave as thought he referendum never happened. This may be unhelpful.
- There will, I fear, be a Tory Prime Minister at the end of 2015.
- The Liberal Democrats will retain 10 – 14 seats in the House of Commons.
- Nick Clegg will lose his seat and be Lord Clegg by the end of the year.
- The Labour Party will not be led by a Milliband by the end of the year.
- The Church of Scotland will begin a new procedure under the barrier act to determine whether to accept ministers in same-sex partnerships who are married (ie not merely in Civil Partnerships).
- There will be legal victories for those seeking to extend Civil Partnerships to straight couples.
- Elizabeth Warren will become a household name.
- (Some) straight liberals will lead the charge (such as it is) for (something less than) LGBT equality, (sometimes). Believe it or not, I’m excited by this and it is an improvement. [Remember that in 2011 I predicted that “No straight liberal in the church will feel the need to sacrifice anything at all for the gay friends they purport to support.” Things are changing a bit].
- Advances in e-learning in churches.
“Elizabeth Warren will become a household name.”
She has been over here for some time, why over there?
The only name in the frame over here is Hilary. Time for that to change.
OK, so for you as a US presidential contender. Because right now she’s not focused on that, she’s setting up to be a thorn in the side of the Republicans who are setting about dismantling the financial protections that she herself developed after the Great Recession.
Yes, I can see that. I’m not necessarily predicting she will run. I am predicting she will be a much better known force.
Quite an interesting article referenced here about Clinton and Warren
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/115509/elizabeth-warren-hillary-clintons-nightmare
Clinton’s problem would seem to be over exposure which is probably more of a liability than an asset after so long.
Both of them will be in their late 60s…does that matter?
The only age requirement in the US Constitution is that they have to be at least 35 years old. 25 to be a Representative (think Commons) and 30 to be a Senator (think Lords.) They must also qualify as native born, which is why Arnold Swartzenegger could be the governator of CA. but never run for president.
David, it seems grossly unfair that becoming a citizen of the Land of the Free doesn’t ensure the freedom to run for president.
I’m sure that if you do some research, you will find similar situations in many countries. Personally I don’t see any unfairness in the requirement.
I can understand having a requirement that one has to renounce every other citizenship if elected, but clearly some citizens are more equal than others in the US. It seems particularly unfair to Canadians and Latinos to me. You may well be right about similar situations in other countries.
In Australia our head of State is not an Australian (cf Canada). And our ridiculous PM has just nominated her husband for a knighthood! That’s the Germans for you!