As of today, I have four of my five term papers completed so I now have time to focus on more important matters, like presidential politics (ha!).
With the Republican nomination all but wrapped up, the attention of the media and the voters has shifted to the race for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States. The fact that there was little doubt that the nominee of the party would either be a black man or a woman made this presidential nomination groundbreaking. However, what began as an historic race has spiraled into absurdity amidst an atmosphere of race baiting and race card playing. The very nature of the campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is tearing the Democratic Party apart and giving the Republicans a shot at something that seemed just months ago to be an impossibility: holding the White House.
I should start with a disclaimer. I am not a Democrat, in fact I am a card-carrying member (minus the card) of the Republican Party. I am the only Republican in my family (among a Democrat, an Independent, and a Canadian Citizen) and I have been since I reached voting age in 2006. However, I would like to emphasize that I am of the North Eastern variety of Republicans (As opposed to the Texas, California, and seedless varieties). We believe that the government exists to preserve the liberties of the citizens while providing only that which the free market fails to supply. Likewise, what goes on in the home (unless the welfare of an individual is threatened) is not the government’s business. I also believe that though we should not shy away from the responsibilities characteristic of being the world’s only superpower, the best military is the one that never has to be used. The man who first made me want to be a Republican was Arizona Senator John McCain. In 2000 he ran a spirited campaign for the GOP presidential nomination against then Texas Governor George W. Bush. At a time when the economy was booming and our international reputation was unparalleled, McCain ran on a moderate platform based more on personality than ideology. He was the American hero once shot down over Vietnam, now vigorously fighting high spending and special interests, regardless of whether they took the form of greedy multi-billion dollar corporations or exploitative labor unions. His appeal to moderate Democrats and Independents propelled him to success in the New Hampshire and Michigan primaries, but caused him to suffer in the closed GOP primary in South Carolina. As we all know, Bush went on to secure the nomination and become President of the United States in the closest presidential election in American history. Now Republicans are hitting their heads against the wall for not nominating McCain eight years ago. I didn’t support him this election cycle partially because of his rhetoric on national security issues, but moreso because I didn’t think he had a snowball’s chance in hell of getting his party’s nomination. Now that McCain is in fact the party’s presumptive nominee, he has the difficult task of convincing America that he is qualified to be president, even after eight years of poor governing by the Bush Administration.
Thanks to recent events in the Democratic presidential race, it may not be as difficult as he thought. On the eve of the South Carolina Primary, Bill Clinton made a remark comparing Obama’s success in the South to that of Jesse Jackson. Just a few days ago, Geraldine Ferraro, who ran in 1984 as Walter Mondale’s Vice President against Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, made a comment saying that Obama would not be in his present position as the presumptive front runner for the nomination if he was a white man. She added that she never would have been on the ticket in ‘84 if she was not a woman. While all of the Republicans were silently thinking “no duh”, the Democrats and liberals in the media cried foul. Ferrara was accused of being racist by people within the Democratic Party, despite the fact that her whole life has been one committed to fighting for civil rights for women and minorities.
I like to think that I am an impartial observer to the Democratic race. Neither Obama nor Hillary have done much to convince me that they deserve my vote, so I really don’t care which one gets the nod of the party. However, what I have observed has been an absurd war of personalities between these two influential Senators and their surrogates that is causing those outside of the Democratic Party to wonder what the heck is going on. I find it ironic that whenever Obama makes a jab at Clinton, he is praised for taking a tough stand against the “establishment” but when Clinton’s campaign goes on the attack (3am phone call?) she gets tagged as being a neurotic, nagging woman. Never mind that Barack Obama’s pastor is a demented racist*. I am not arguing that one side is more guilty than the other, I am only saying that the nature of a political campaign that has been thoroughly castrated by the SS of political correctness will seizure whenever the fact that Barack Obama is black is even mentioned. Nobody doubted that Mitt Romney did well in the Mountain States because of their large Mormon populations. He won the state of Utah with 90% of the vote and we didn’t kid ourselves why. Barack Obama won 91% of the African American vote in Mississippi, which was an accurate reflection of states across the South where he has consistently held huge double digit leads over Clinton among black voters. Yet when a Clinton surrogate says that Barack Obama is doing well because he is black, nuts like Keith Olbermann and Jack Cafferty cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war.
My advice to the Democrats is this: Stick to the issues. You need your candidates to stay on message and escape from the polarizing scorched-earth stalemate that they are in. The Republicans knew full well that they could not possibly win on the status quo platform, which is why this November either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton will be campaigning against a man best known as a decorated war hero whose greatest life accomplishment was refusing to be returned home by the North Vietnamese Army until he was assured that his fellow POW’s would go with him. Let’s face it, John McCain is a lousy Senator. No matter how beautiful your family is (Obama) or how good you are at tearing up (Clinton), if you allow the campaign to be about personality rather than issues, John McCain will trump you every time.
One more piece of advice: Tell Michigan and Florida** to stick their delegates where the sun doesn’t shine.
End of rant.
-optional toaster
EDIT: *Barack Obama’s pastor has come under increasing media attention in the last 48 hours.
EDIT: **The Florida Democratic Party has since voted not to hold new elections. It will not contribute delegates to the convention.
thats it, brother