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As somebody who knows Alex Downer reasonably well - we went to school together - he is most certainly not drooling over Obama. What he said the other day,about Obama being the likely next President of the United States, reflects the fact that the polls show that is the likely outcome - it did not imply approval of Obama as President. As Australia's longest serving Foreign Minister, Downer is certainly aware that it is important to be reasonably upbeat and complimentary about any potential US President, but he's made it fairly clear that he would prefer a McCain presidency.

IO: If you were American who would you actually be voting for?

AD: Well, I’m not an American so I mean in a sense I can’t put myself in that position. I have a sister who’s American and I think she’s going to vote for Obama, but that’s just my sister. That’s nothing to do with me.

IO: But you almost said then that you would vote for McCain.

AD: I’m an Australian and I don’t have a vote. Now what I would say is this… Who do I personally think, so not whom would I vote for because I don’t have a vote and if I had a vote, my circumstances would be entirely different from what they are so it’s impossible to say, but I’ll say this… On the basis of policy positions, there’s no doubt in my mind that McCain is the better option for Australia.