As a Democrat, I am happy with the final two nominees still battling it out. The Republicans, while technically more settled on a nominee, seem less pleased with John McCain. It seems the Republican clown car crashed and somehow out rolled Grandpappy McCain in spite of months of stories about his candidacy dying and endless predictions on the success of Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and Fred Thompson. Fred Thompson? It is safe to say that no matter who is the Democratic nominee I will be thrilled and supportive. But that does not mean I do not have concerns.
The Republican Party has for sometime now been a loose coalition among otherwise unrelated factions. The libertarians in their cabins have little to do with the Roy Moores who seek an unprecedented government imposition of religious “values.” The Baptist family in Kansas does not have much in common with wealthy tycoons on Wall St. But somehow this coalition has managed to stay together in spite of no discernable ideological cohesion.
Much has been made about the damage Bush II has done to the country. A needless war, the relaxation of environmental protections, poor people left to drown in their own sewage in New Orleans… the list goes on and on. But not as much attention has been paid to the damage Bush has done to his own party. The immigration debate is just one example of an intra-party controversy mismanaged. The relentless obedience to those that would make a mockery of Reagan’s “limited government” stance and incompetent cronyism have damaged the Republican brand. Republicans are supposed to be better at management in terms of budget and bureaucracy. They’re supposed to be more sober, responsible. Whatever qualities were associated with the Republican Party cannot be found. While not the only contributor, W. played a large role in ending the Reagan conservative movement.
But, just because Bush II is incompetent and the Republicans are fractured one should not assume the Democratic nominee will easily walk into office. Politics has a way of ending arguments among friends in the face of an enemy. John McCain is no Alan Keyes.
Most young people are excited about Obama. He is so cool. He danced on Ellen and he talks about lofty, positive hope. The sweet side of my shredded wheat thinks a lot of young people are attracted to Obama because he is inspiring. The cynical side of me thinks young people are hyped up on Obama because they were not paying attention to politics during the Clinton years.
The Republicans are mean. That is an understatement. Even before Bill Clinton won his party’s nomination they trolled Arkansas for anyone that would get in front of a camera and accuse him of something. Everyone is familiar with the details of his impeachment. But many have also forgotten that he was relentlessly accused of illegal activity on a weekly basis. These manufactured controversies went nowhere. But as soon as one dissipated another accusation was levied. If you believed every scandal during the first term alone, President and Hilary Clinton managed to conspire with the Chinese mafia for campaign finances, shot Vince Foster in the head, and rented rooms in the White House like Motel 6. Eat your heart out Tony Soprano.
An entire law firm was founded in 1994 for the sole purpose of suing President Clinton. Judicial Watch, founded by conservative activist Larry Klayman and funded by right wing nutcase billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife sued the President 18 times. Lawyers, investigators, PR reps, and support staff were assembled into a conservative activist “law firm” founded to come up with plausible accusations against one man and bring legal action. It is the easiest thing in the world to get a talking head to make up a story on CNN and anyone can file a suit in a federal district court for any reason. Most of these lawsuits went nowhere. They were dismissed and appealed. They were thrown out of court, retooled, and filed again. But, in politics perception is reality. Throw enough crap at someone and some is bound to stick. These firebrand conservatives did not fall asleep because Bush is unpopular.
Obama did nothing in Illinois. His M.O. was not to vote rather than take a stand. He waltzed into the Senate virtually unopposed after a midstream joke of a candidate, Alan Keyes, did nothing but make Obama look more reasonable. After his swearing into the Senate last year he almost immediately began running for President. Since then he has been a darling of the party and the press and nary a criticism has been uttered. The opening sketch on Saturday Night Live on February 21, 2008 – the first with writers back – poked fun about how aggressively news anchors have joined the Obama cheering section. It colors their coverage. When Clinton met with Edwards to woo his endorsement she was accused of trying to siphon committed delegates. When Obama did the same thing days later, Hardball with Chris Matthews focused on the two men’s embrace. Barack Obama will give you a hug when you suspend your campaign.
No one knows how Obama will perform in a fight because he has never been in a fight. His halo perfectly parallel to the plane, he has never gotten his loafers dusty. I’m proud to be in the party of idealists. But I worry impractical idealism will nominate an untested man. Rumblings indicate the coming storm. Laura Ingram has begun exaggerating Obama’s admitted drug use. Three weeks ago photos of Obama’s grandmother appeared on conservative blogs and were passed along through a series of viral emails. I received one from a particularly nasty conservative group with ties to the segregationist John Birch society. (I subscribe to their mailing list because I like to keep up with what the social conservatives communicate among themselves below the radar.)
The pictures of grandma feature every racist’s stereotype of a grinning, poor black woman with big teeth and big eyes. They are not circulated to be cute. They are intended to arouse the passions of that wing of the Republican Party that hasn’t fallen in love with McCain yet. On one hand it foreshadows what is to come. The nasties are out there. They are digging. They will come up with something and they will pull Obama down to earth. The campaign’s incessant whining about comments by the former President that could be construed as racially insensitive tells me they better thicken their skins. On the other hand, this type of enemy makes it all the more imperative that Obama ultimately win.
The Republican Party is staffed and stocked with those that seek power not because they believe their ideas are better but because they think God himself commands that they be in power. They are not impressed by an inspiring speech.
My concerns are not limited to Obama. Nothing would snap that fractured coalition back together like a Hillary Clinton nomination. The best part of Clinton is also the worst. She is a lightning rod. We know how she performs in a fight because she has been fighting the same foes for fifteen years. I am confident in her abilities to campaign when people stop being polite and start getting real. I also know there is a fixed portion of the population that will never vote for Clinton no matter what she does.
Unfairly, she can do no right. The Daily Show audience, predictably liberal, rolls with laughter as John Stewart lampoons Hillary for being a robot. Then she gets misty and she is called manipulative. The strategizing she is so skilled at is painted negatively by the press as cold calculation. And the essential organization she and the former president have built over the past two decades is dismissed as “Washington insider.” The inexplicable glorification of a lack of political experience is as misguided to me as making W’s folksiness (i.e. dumb lack of curiosity) a political asset. I often think she should have campaigned the entire time with a scarlet letter B on her chest. Perhaps that would satiate those for whom there is no correct way to be a woman and seek power.
I like Hillary better than Barack. But at my heart I think he has a better chance of beating John McCain. He attracts people that previously voted Republican. He does not have Hillary’s skills but he also does not have her baggage. I think Hillary would make a better president but in spite of her superior political skills I do not think she can win. Sadly, I do not think Obama can maintain a campaign on lofty platitudes. This should be the happiest time in recent history for progressives. Every analyst of any political persuasion predicts we will have a Democrat in the White House and stronger majorities in both houses of Congress. But I’m a political Woody Allen and November is far away.
Obama will probably get the nomination. He gives good speeches. If that happens, I think a reasonable consolation price for Clinton would be Majority Leader. President Obama with a female Speaker of the House and female Majority Leader would be like a teenage boy watching Pamela Anderson run down the beach in slow motion before the kids and hepatitis.
I guess I should be happy. There’s virtually no chance of the FMA being brought up again. The Justice Department might someday soon not be staffed from top to bottom with graduates of Regent University. The next president will likely nominate two or three Supreme Court justices. Even if McCain gets into office somehow he probably will not nominate his unqualified gal pal. And he probably won’t support torture unless you count indulging his legendary temper by screaming in his plastic wife’s face. Things are looking up, America. And happy days are (almost) here again.
Barack, don’t break my heart.
The relentless obedience to those that would make a mockery of Reagan’s “limited government” stance and incompetent cronyism have damaged the Republican brand. Republicans are supposed to be better at management in terms of budget and bureaucracy. They’re supposed to be more sober, responsible. Whatever qualities were associated with the Republican Party cannot be found.
I agree 100%. And that's the reason I don't consider myself a Republican. I also can't stomach being in the same group as the "religious right". Honestly I've not yet found a candidate from any party that I have truly felt good supporting.
Also -
I agree Obama is more electable. There was some discussion on the gun forums of strategically voting for Hillary in the primaries, knowing that if she was nominated, hordes of old or infrequent Republicans would come out of the woodwork just to vote against her.
Posted by: Andrew WK | February 26, 2008 at 11:22 PM