No matter who wins the US presidential election, the Irish Government is going to have to engage more seriously with the Republican party than it has in the past. The National Association of Irish-American Republicans was formed some years ago, based in Alexandria, Virginia. Motto: "A guaranteed Democrat vote never more".
Tommy Thompson, governor of Illinois, played a key role in formulating George W. Bush's policy on Ireland. Other prominent Irish-American Republicans include Senator John McCain (Arizona), Senator Susan Collins (Maine) and Senator Connie Mack (Florida). The latter's original name was Macgillicuddy but, as he cheerfully tells Irish-American friends, he shortened it to the more electable Mack. We do not know if Mack was responsible for the billboard that appeared this week in Palm Springs - "If you can't complete a ballot, how do you play bingo?"
By the way, the Republicans are saying that if Gore wins, the presidential anthem will be changed from "Hail to the Chief" to "Hail to the Thief". That's being attributed in some quarters to Bush's principal spokesman, the Irish-American Ray Sullivan.