Star One Smart Blog's

The Telegraph.co.uk (Britain's No.1 Quality Newspaper) put together a criss-cross-country trip here in the U.S.; from Maine to Seattle then back to Florida. Talking to plain, ordinary people, on the streets, in parking lots, malls, Churches, most of the interviewed are not in constant touch with politics via blogs and web sites, but all of whom will vote in 2008 for a new government.  The results are detailed at the article, but some of these observations are resonant with me, and many of the people I work and play with in meatspace (who have no clue about my blogging fun...)

The most interesting (and correct, at least for 'real' Heartland Americans) points I've pulled out ...

• Mrs Clinton might be the frontrunner in the polls, but almost everywhere we went people questioned her candidacy. Many stated bluntly that they did not want a woman in charge.

Now, I would like to see Condoleezza Rice as President. There's a real woman for you.

• While we found many people who hated Mrs Clinton, those who loved her were few and far between.

Even her own husband found better, it seems...that, and a pizza, and foreign policy went straight out the window!

• Views about President George Bush ranged from vitriolic hostility to mild disappointment. But many seemed to view him as irrelevant in terms of the 2008 election, not least because no Republican candidate is trying to assume his mantle.

BDS, the glue holding the Democrats together. Well, George W. Bush isn't running in 2008, so you'll have to find another way to focus your hate.

• Although Mr Clinton is no longer the villain he was for many in the late 1990s, there was precious little evidence of nostalgia for the Clinton years - another alarm bell for the Hillary campaign.

Keep trotting out that epitome of public morality and decency, Hillary, and see how far he'll take you...oh, but now you're using him, for his name and connections. Not working out so well, is it?

• Support for the Iraq war was thin in most places - though far from non-existent - but backing for American troops was strong and, on balance, most people thought Islamic extremism needed to be confronted.

Thin, because of the frightful campaign of negativism dislodged from leftist sources. Leftist Democrats view patriotism as passé and not fashionable, so better to decry the war and the troops who fight it.

• ...Obamamania was difficult to find. His lofty, professorial manner has made it difficult for him to connect with ordinary Americans and he could well go the way of earlier "outsider" Democrats running on a platform of change, including Gary Hart, Paul Tsongas and Bill Bradley.

Obama isn't Presidential. Americans can see him standing around without putting his hand over his heart when the Star Spangled Banner is played (at an Iowa "Steak Fry", in September.) Even Hillary and Mrs. Harkin have more sense than to ignore that bit of finesse.

• ...Mr Giuliani, who favours abortion and gay rights and has previously advocated gun controls, was too liberal to secure the Republican nomination. Not so in the flyover states, where in the post-9/11 world, defending America trumps everything else among conservatives.

We may have to accept Rudy. If it comes to that. But the Gun Control issue isn't going away, especially since the Supremes are deciding whether Washington D.C. (and other leftist-liberal-cozy 'burgs) can trample the Bill of Rights. We'll see.

• ...a single message from Americans everywhere, however, it was that they cannot stand politicians. "They all lie all the time,"

And who didn't know this?

• Apart from the war on terror, the issue we were confronted by again and again was illegal immigration - a preoccupation of Democratic as well as Republican voters.

Again, something only the farthest leftists can love. When we face illegal immigration, and question the politics and policies of the 'let 'em in, make a path to citizenship', invariably the left attacks us as racists and bigots (don't forget 'homophobes'), brings up the mantra of 'income inequity', and whines that we must accept whoever comes in. No matter that the flood of illegal immigrants has harmed legitimate social services, harmed healthcare in many border cities, and encouraged lawlessness in these 'income inequity refugees'.

This list of political sentiment in the heartland is accurate. Of course, there are pockets of leftist extremism in our large, largely Democratic "welfare cities", but these sentiments are heartfelt amongst most Americans.

If Hillary wants a chance to become the next President, she had better get away from New York and Leftists and meet some of these 'real' people. The shrill harpy we see behind the curtain, now,  isn't going to be our next President.