Madam, - Toby Joyce's analysis of US presidential politics (February 20th) is spot on.
To my mind, Barack Obama is exactly the candidate the Republicans would dread to see up against the seventy-something, long-time Washington insider who looks certain to run on the GOP ticket. Why else would President Bush have suggested a few months ago that Hillary Clinton would be a very strong Democratic candidate? Why else is Senator McCain attacking Obama, instead of even mentioning Senator Clinton?
Sadly, even though Hillary and her husband have done an awful lot of good in their careers (not least for this island), it seems clear that she is of the past and the Republican Party machine is more than confident that it can beat her.
Finally, and on a personal note, might I suggest to all the pub experts who tell me that America is not yet ready for a black president that the polling results across the states suggest it is perhaps they who are unready for such a departure? - Yours, etc ,
DONAL O'KEEFFE, Brian Boru Grove, Fermoy, Co Cork.