Let me start by repeating the obvious: this is a big year for national politics. It’s already off to a roaring start, given the interesting outcomes of the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. By the end of this week, two more states will add their results into the presidential candidate mix (Michigan and Nevada). And then two big southern primaries will follow in close order (South Carolina and Florida). There’s plenty of political commentary being cranked out in the newspapers and blogs, to which there’s not that much I can add. But for what little it’s worth, I’ll make this observation: the national parties have or are just about to bring it down to two sets of candidates (sort of like where the NFL playoffs stand this week). Those would be Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama on the Democratic side, and Mike Huckabee and John McCain for the GOP.
The Democrats will choose just how they wish to make history. Will it be the wonky old woman, or the young black orator? The Republicans will also slug it out over two groundbreakers: the new Christian fundamentalist versus the old master of independence and integrity. Wow – choose your virtue, choose your poison. No two alike! Each would take the country in a unique direction. But more than that; just the election of either one would make a bold statement. Clinton – women finally have their day. Obama – true racial equality can still be achieved. Huckabee – a man of the cloth should be in charge (hmmmm, haven’t they tried that in the Middle East?). McCain – a politician should try not to be so political, at least once elected (now there’s an idea – if he can pull it off).
And it would all go totally off the map if Mike Bloomberg decided to run, especially if he picked a running mate that made him worth considering (my choice for that role would be Colin Powell). The iron-clad rule is that third party candidates for the Presidency are never taken seriously. But 2008 is starting to look like the year when all the rules have flown the coupe. So what would a Bloomberg victory say? Something like this: who needs political parties when CASH IS KING.
Don’t think it can’t eventually happen.
Jim,
I don’t QUITE agree with you YET. I think that more likely after the February primary when a lot of the (most of the?) states have had their elections, then it may be safe to say that the candidates are down to four. I think there are still a lot of big states out there yet who have not voted–CA, NY, IL, for three. Oh, FL too… Who knows what the bigger states will do.
And I must ask: Why is Clinton an “OLD woman”?–When a man her age is just coming into his good years as perhaps a respected man with experience. (I just had to say that.) And I also have noticed that there are some men on TV whose looks are such that if the same characteristics of age were “on” a woman, she would not even be ALLOWED on TV. I say take a good look at some of the men on TV who are supposed to be the ones with the most profound things to say and compare their “age characteristics” to what would be “tolerated” for a woman. There is a HUGE gender gap in this regard.
I wonder about Huckabee: I have read that it is impossible for anyone to find any of his sermons when he was a Baptist preacher. Then I did find ONE quote that someone seems to have found: He advocated “taking back this country for Christ.” Just that statement in itself is scary. Would separation of Church and State go out the door with him? And is he keeping such ideas well under wraps lest people read them for what they are? In some ways he reminds me of a Republican Clinton: playing bass with the bad on Jay Leno for one… But then there is the silence on his Baptist sermons…. Another Republican whose records cannot be found (ala GWB whose Nat’l Guard records are simply no where to be found).
And then I wonder about Obama. I asked a woman I know who is usually very knowledgeable about what has gone on politically in Illinois–both in the state gov’t and the Fed. gov’t. When I questioned her about what EXACTLY it is that Obama can lay claim to in Illinois as I could not think of one thing he actually DID in Illinois, her response was: Well, that’s probably because he wasn’t YOUR state senator (true). But then she also said: Well, I THINK he MUST HAVE been influential in promoting insurance for children in IL. And his voting record MUST HAVE BEEN a good one.
These comments from a woman who really knows Illinois politics. Frankly, they did not convince me of Obama’s ability to actually change things and put his money where his mouth is.
And at this point I’m totally sick of the Clinton/Obama wrangling about who said what and who dissed who. I’m beginning to wonder about Obama even more as sometimes it seems that whole “I’ve been dissed” (my words) issue is coming from his camp.
McCain, I must say, I have deep respect for. He has put his money where his mouth is when it comes to serving our country. But having done that, he has the attitude I’ve seen in other men who were in the military (and these are men I’ve loved and deeply respected but can’t always agree with)–namely: Our Country Right Or Wrong–no nuances in that thought. While I fully and truly respect these men, I must say I see a need for a more nuanced approach to “our country.”
And if Bloomberg would run as an independent, would that mean that he’d take votes away from whom? The Republicans? The Dems? Would it actually be possible for an Independent to WIN? And then I wonder: What does he know about foreign affairs? Anything at all?
And in general: What is wrong with the picture when people with gazillions of dollars are the only ones who can actually buy themselves into a position to run.
As to Colin Powell: If we could go back in time before he was Secretary of State, I’d have voted for him for president in a flash. But his inability to stand up to the Bush forces when he knew for certain that they were simply wrong, has me wondering about his ability to stand for what he really believes.
I, however, am certain of one thing absolutely: When I vote in the next maj
Comment by Anonymous — January 15, 2008 @ 2:33 pm
Jim,
I don’t QUITE agree with you YET. I think that more likely after the February primary when a lot of the (most of the?) states have had their elections, then it may be safe to say that the candidates are down to four. I think there are still a lot of big states out there yet who have not voted–CA, NY, IL, for three. Oh, FL too… Who knows what the bigger states will do.
And I must ask: Why is Clinton an “OLD woman”?–When a man her age is just coming into his good years as perhaps a respected man with experience. (I just had to say that.) And I also have noticed that there are some men on TV whose looks are such that if the same characteristics of age were “on” a woman, she would not even be ALLOWED on TV. I say take a good look at some of the men on TV who are supposed to be the ones with the most profound things to say and compare their “age characteristics” to what would be “tolerated” for a woman. There is a HUGE gender gap in this regard.
I wonder about Huckabee: I have read that it is impossible for anyone to find any of his sermons when he was a Baptist preacher. Then I did find ONE quote that someone seems to have found: He advocated “taking back this country for Christ.” Just that statement in itself is scary. Would separation of Church and State go out the door with him? And is he keeping such ideas well under wraps lest people read them for what they are? In some ways he reminds me of a Republican Clinton: playing bass with the bad on Jay Leno for one… But then there is the silence on his Baptist sermons…. Another Republican whose records cannot be found (ala GWB whose Nat’l Guard records are simply no where to be found).
And then I wonder about Obama. I asked a woman I know who is usually very knowledgeable about what has gone on politically in Illinois–both in the state gov’t and the Fed. gov’t. When I questioned her about what EXACTLY it is that Obama can lay claim to in Illinois as I could not think of one thing he actually DID in Illinois, her response was: Well, that’s probably because he wasn’t YOUR state senator (true). But then she also said: Well, I THINK he MUST HAVE been influential in promoting insurance for children in IL. And his voting record MUST HAVE BEEN a good one.
These comments from a woman who really knows Illinois politics. Frankly, they did not convince me of Obama’s ability to actually change things and put his money where his mouth is.
And at this point I’m totally sick of the Clinton/Obama wrangling about who said what and who dissed who. I’m beginning to wonder about Obama even more as sometimes it seems that whole “I’ve been dissed” (my words) issue is coming from his camp.
McCain, I must say, I have deep respect for. He has put his money where his mouth is when it comes to serving our country. But having done that, he has the attitude I’ve seen in other men who were in the military (and these are men I’ve loved and deeply respected but can’t always agree with)–namely: Our Country Right Or Wrong–no nuances in that thought. While I fully and truly respect these men, I must say I see a need for a more nuanced approach to “our country.”
And if Bloomberg would run as an independent, would that mean that he’d take votes away from whom? The Republicans? The Dems? Would it actually be possible for an Independent to WIN? And then I wonder: What does he know about foreign affairs? Anything at all?
And in general: What is wrong with the picture when people with gazillions of dollars are the only ones who can actually buy themselves into a position to run.
As to Colin Powell: If we could go back in time before he was Secretary of State, I’d have voted for him for president in a flash. But his inability to stand up to the Bush forces when he knew for certain that they were simply wrong, has me wondering about his ability to stand for what he really believes.
I, however, am certain of one thing absolutely: When I vote in the next major election–including state and fed officials up for reelection, if he/she is in office, out he/she goes; I’m voting for the other side. I don’t care if it’s the Dems in office in IL, out they go (who can stand the fiasco Illinois gov’t has become?); and the Republicans in fed gov’t, out they go. My sister who died 8 years ago this month had a saying: If they’re in office, I vote them out. Put somebody new in. She didn’t care who they were or what they were running for; she had a policy that said even one term in office was enough for a politician. For once I think she was right.
Once again, I come to “your take on things” with “my own peculiar take on things.”
MCS
Comment by Anonymous — January 15, 2008 @ 2:33 pm
Jim,
I don’t QUITE agree with you YET. I think that more likely after the February primary when a lot of the (most of the?) states have had their elections, then it may be safe to say that the candidates are down to four. I think there are still a lot of big states out there yet who have not voted–CA, NY, IL, for three. Oh, FL too… Who knows what the bigger states will do.
And I must ask: Why is Clinton an “OLD woman”?–When a man her age is just coming into his good years as perhaps a respected man with experience. (I just had to say that.) And I also have noticed that there are some men on TV whose looks are such that if the same characteristics of age were “on” a woman, she would not even be ALLOWED on TV. I say take a good look at some of the men on TV who are supposed to be the ones with the most profound things to say and compare their “age characteristics” to what would be “tolerated” for a woman. There is a HUGE gender gap in this regard.
I wonder about Huckabee: I have read that it is impossible for anyone to find any of his sermons when he was a Baptist preacher. Then I did find ONE quote that someone seems to have found: He advocated “taking back this country for Christ.” Just that statement in itself is scary. Would separation of Church and State go out the door with him? And is he keeping such ideas well under wraps lest people read them for what they are? In some ways he reminds me of a Republican Clinton: playing bass with the bad on Jay Leno for one… But then there is the silence on his Baptist sermons…. Another Republican whose records cannot be found (ala GWB whose Nat’l Guard records are simply no where to be found).
And then I wonder about Obama. I asked a woman I know who is usually very knowledgeable about what has gone on politically in Illinois–both in the state gov’t and the Fed. gov’t. When I questioned her about what EXACTLY it is that Obama can lay claim to in Illinois as I could not think of one thing he actually DID in Illinois, her response was: Well, that’s probably because he wasn’t YOUR state senator (true). But then she also said: Well, I THINK he MUST HAVE been influential in promoting insurance for children in IL. And his voting record MUST HAVE BEEN a good one.
These comments from a woman who really knows Illinois politics. Frankly, they did not convince me of Obama’s ability to actually change things and put his money where his mouth is.
And at this point I’m totally sick of the Clinton/Obama wrangling about who said what and who dissed who. I’m beginning to wonder about Obama even more as sometimes it seems that whole “I’ve been dissed” (my words) issue is coming from his camp.
McCain, I must say, I have deep respect for. He has put his money where his mouth is when it comes to serving our country. But having done that, he has the attitude I’ve seen in other men who were in the military (and these are men I’ve loved and deeply respected but can’t always agree with)–namely: Our Country Right Or Wrong–no nuances in that thought. While I fully and truly respect these men, I must say I see a need for a more nuanced approach to “our country.”
And if Bloomberg would run as an independent, would that mean that he’d take votes away from whom? The Republicans? The Dems? Would it actually be possible for an Independent to WIN? And then I wonder: What does he know about foreign affairs? Anything at all?
And in general: What is wrong with the picture when people with gazillions of dollars are the only ones who can actually buy themselves into a position to run.
As to Colin Powell: If we could go back in time before he was Secretary of State, I’d have voted for him for president in a flash. But his inability to stand up to the Bush forces when he knew for certain that they were simply wrong, has me wondering about his ability to stand for what he really believes.
I, however, am certain of one thing absolutely: When I vote in the next maj
Comment by Anonymous — January 15, 2008 @ 2:33 pm