Knowing that this might well tip the balance-of-powers-that-be, I wanted to put sincere and thorough consideration into this. Like, during lunchtime.
My choice for the Democratic nomination is, shall we say, iffy. I think Hillary would make a dynamite POTUS, which wouldn’t be difficult, given who she would be compared to from the last 30 years. I was lucky enough to get a chance to hear her speak about three years ago. She is a dynamic speaker. It’s hard not to get carried away. I would like to go with her. But, I am a bit nervous about that “Hillary as Satan” thing that she has going with some demented evangelicals. I am afraid, by nominating Ms. Clinton, the Dems would guarantee a very large Republican turnout at the polls. However, given that the Democratic nominee is probably going to be either black or female, it is pretty much a given that those thirty-percenters that still think Georgie is a god, or at least a demigod, will be highly motivated to show up and vote AGAINST the person that actually ends up on the Democratic ticket.
Now, in all actuality, I like John Edwards. I like his emphasis on the “Two Americas”. That is the truth, and it is nice to see someone keep banging away on the subject. But, unfortunately, I just don’t think John is going to make it. He would have to get off to a rousing start in the initial primaries, which is possible. But I just don’t think that he can counter Ms. Clinton’s name recognition, charisma, and money.
Barak Obama…. You know, I just don’t know that much about him. I have absolutely nothing against a black man or woman becoming president. I think either of those things would be a very good thing in the history of this country. It would be like Jackie Robinson playing for the Dodgers, raised to the nth degree. The thing that I have a bit of a problem with Obama is not race, but youth and inexperience. He does seem a bit green, no pun intended. Not that it might matter much. John Kennedy was pretty green as well, and he was a very good president at a very difficult time. So, Mr. Obama might end up being a very good president, given the chance. I am just not sure he is going to get that chance.
Therefore, I am going to go with Ms. Clinton. As stated earlier, I think she would be a very good president. She would certainly have her weaknesses, but doesn’t everyone? I also think it would be a total hoot if she were to be able to reconcile her differences on the campaign trail with Mr. Obama and nominate him for VP. Now, THAT would be a ticket, a woman and a black man. It would be great fun to see the heads explode of all the followers of Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh. Rather like a mass screening of Scanners.
On the Republican side, I really have a hard time of imagining anyone of those currently running making any sort of a decent president. Now, the entire equation might be being fogged up due to the fact that they all are pandering to the extreme right of the party, whose influence dominates the primaries. Once the nominee gets past those, maybe, just maybe, he would start sounding like a real, sane person again and not like some neo-con war-bot, as they will have to then appeal to a much broader spectrum of voters. It just appears to me that none of the frontrunners have shown themselves to have any sort of principles. They will say anything to pander to that right wing base of the party, just so they can secure the nomination. John McCain is no longer an Episcopalian. He is now a Baptist. It isn’t terribly clear when that happened. Giuliani is now for everything the NRA stands for, expect that he wasn’t when he was mayor of NYC. And Mitt, geez…. Pro-gay, anti-gay, pro-life, pro-choice... Who knows? Fred Thompson hasn’t said anything of substance about ANYTHING yet, so who knows what the heck he would be like. We do know that he has the ability to procure one mighty fine red pickup truck, when necessary. Otherwise, he drives a big honkin’ SUV, like most other rich, white Republicans.
I guess I would like to go with John McCain, even though he is nothing like the person that used to be associated with the “Straight Talk Express”. Maybe, after the primaries, he would start acting like a real person again. In the past, he hasn’t been hesitant to criticize his own party. But his pro-war zeal makes me very nervous. We would probably be in Iraq in greater numbers than we are now for the foreseeable future, if he were to win. But he does say some good things about some subjects, such as torturing political prisoners who have not been charged with anything.
I really hope the Republican nominee is not Rudy Giuliani. He is popular enough that he might actually have a chance of winning, and he also seems to be a certifiable nutjob. No one in NYC who knows anything about him seems to like him, at all. That would be a very scary proposition. I might actually consider that move to Canada I had been joking about four years earlier.
Truthfully, I wish we could somehow end up with Al Gore as president. But that is never going to happen for a multitude of reasons. So, I am thinking out best chance of extracting ourselves out of this absolute mess that we are currently in would be with President Hillary Clinton.
There. Got that out of the way. What’s next on the agenda? Oh, yeah…. My endorsement for the best automatic dishwasher detergent. I’ll have to give that sincere and deep consideration....
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