What does it mean to be on 2008 Presidential Primaries Programnme?

It simply means that you are on a very condensed, entertaining and educational programme that helps you better understand and have a closer look at how the political system works in the United States of America.
Not only that, being on a presidential primaries programme helps you as well to better understand the general mood of the public Americans, not only what one hears from US officials.
As a participant in the International Visitor Leadership Programme "2008 Presidential Primaries", along with 20 other colleagues from across the world, I can simply say that being in the programme, so far, helped me better understand better the American people, their priorities and what is really of concern to them.
I have always thought that the Americans in general, especially the American officials, are mostly concerned with the foreign policies and international affairs, such as the peace process in the Middle East, the Iranian nuclear issue and the war on terror, among others.
Why I had these ideas was simply because I simply though that the situation in the United States is far better than any country in the world, at least economically. The economic recession the US is facing and the economic issues are topping the agendas of the candidates.
I believe that it is true that they have lots of interests in the Middle East, but the public Americans that I have been taking to are simply busy with the netty gritty of their life.
We have been attending a series of meetings since the start of the programme. We are finished with the programme in Washington D.C., where we received a good and condensed introduction about the primaries.

Mohammad Ghazal

Reporter with The Jordan Times...