While traveling post-GUADEC in Turkey, I ended up after dinner one night walking next to a man speaking English to his wife, and like most people in a foreign country I was interested to talk to someone of similar culture. It turned out though he was Iranian, now living in Dubai with his American wife. He was a very intelligent person, a businessman of some sort and we had a discussion about world affairs as we walked back to our respective hotels.

He obviously had a broad world view and experience, so it was a good conversation. Of course the presidental run came up, and when I mentioned I supported Obama, he shook his head and I remember he said to me confidently and with some cynicism, “John McCain will be your next president”. I had felt so sure that America would warm to this eloquent, charismatic scholar of constitutional law, but at that moment I experienced some lingering doubt which stayed for a week at least.

Not that he’s likely to be reading this blog, but I’d just like to say – told you so!