Election '08 by Gus, Part 3

As promised, my thoughts on the 4 biggest Democratic candidates...

Governor Bill Richardson:

Pluses: Uh, he's not a grumpy old white guy. Seems nice, articulate, reasonable. I'll stop pretending like I have anything specific here.

Minuses: It seems pretty clear to me that he's in the race at this point solely to try and land the vice-presidential nomination. 'Look at me- Hispanic, swing state governor, what's not to like?'. He has to know that his only chance of being elected president in 2008 is if Hillary gets caught shtupping one of her interns, Barack and John Edwards run away to be a gay couple together, and at the next Republican debate, in a spectacular coincidence, at the moment Rudy Giuliani utters the phrase 9/11 for the 911,911,911th time on the campaign trail, a previously unknown asteroid in near earth orbit falls from the sky and wipes out the entire Republican field except for Ron Paul, who had gotten lost and was waiting in a diner on the other side of the state wondering where everyone else was, thereby leading to Richardson beating Paul in a 48-state landslide, Paul only winning New Hampshire, where they are actually kooky enough to vote for him, and Florida, where the vote count is 3,453,765,468.72 votes for Ron Paul, against the 23 votes for Bill Richardson from the Pensacola Sewing Club.

Now, don't get me wrong- I'm open to the possibility that this is, in fact, America's best case scenario. I'm just saying I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for it to happen.

Senator John Edwards:

Pluses: Appears to give a two-penny damn about the poor. Was the first to throw a real health care reform plan out there. And I think it's the best one.

Minuses: Already lost once. Campaign gaffes: if you're running as a guy who is in touch with the concerns of regular people, in what universe do you think it's going to be a good idea to get a $400 haircut? Go to Supercuts like the rest of the guys in America (who have hair). This is the kind of stupid shit that shouldn't make a difference in a just universe, but does make a difference because we live in this universe, and leads to the Republican party winning elections despite being run primarily by people who openly don't give a shit about the concerns of regular people.

Also, he's too protectionist on trade. I know labor unions are a big constituency, but it's time to figure out how to live in a 21st century world of mobile capital and changing jobs, and not a 19th century world of manufacturing jobs that you hold pretty much for life. Show some leadership and start talking about that.

Senator Barack Obama:

Pluses: He draws people out who might otherwise not participate, especially in swing states, and that's crucial for a Democratic victory in 2008. Electing him would send an important signal of change to the rest of the world, and more importantly, would do a lot to heal some of the scars we still bear in this country from our legacy of slavery. Finally, people like my mom, who historically has voted Republican, are willing to vote for him. That's huge; my mom lives in a swing state.

Minuses: I think too much is made of "experience" or lack thereof, without a good idea of what that means. There's no job like the American presidency. There's nothing you'll ever do in life that will somehow provide "experience" for it. That said, if you're going to be effective in the presidency, the number and quality of the personal relationships you have with senators, congressmen, business leaders, foreign leaders, and the range of personal life experience you have will determine how effective you are at actually getting anything done. Sometimes I think that Senator Obama has been around for such a short amount of time on the national political stage that if he does get elected, with people hungry for change, there will be a huge danger of his not getting anything done, and people having their hopes for change crushed. I mean, does the Senator have the ability to cut deals where possible, and browbeat the opposition when he has to? I just don't know.

Senator Hillary Clinton:

Pluses: She's tough. Smart. Understands politicking. And, it would also be a good thing for the country to at some point elect a woman president, so sure, why not now.

Minuses: She's been so stage-managed from day 1, always trying to triangulate and say just the right thing, instead of just saying what she thinks. People sense that. I think she probably was against the war at the beginning, but felt she couldn't afford politically to look weak on homeland security. And that would have been the case for a while, but if she had come out against it, she'd have a more powerful case now. And it would show leadership.

Another problem with her is that at a time when Republicans are deeply divided and demoralized, the one thing that they can all agree on and get excited about is Hillary-hating. Even my mom, who is pretty mellow, refuses to consider even for a second voting for her, even though she is otherwise at least open in this election to voting Democrat because she is so deeply dissatisfied with President Bush. I'm not saying it's right, I'm not saying it's fair, but the reality is that there are a lot of people like my mom out there, especially in swing states. And so I think that if she runs against Governor Huckabee, she will lose. Narrowly, but she'll lose. And that's why I'm rooting for some kind of Obama/Edwards/Richardson combination.

But my biggest problem with her is that her candidacy seems to be founded on a couple of philosophical assumptions that I don't approve of. First, a certain sense of entitlement, as though she's implying that she's owed this, after all the suffering she endured in the Clinton years of the '90's, both from the Republican attack machine and from her husband's philandering.

Second, I feel like Bill Clinton and George Bush reflect the psyche of the Baby Boomer generation. Bill Clinton represents the optimistic, idealistic, '60's as an era of progressive change and striving to make this place a better place. He also represents the wild side of the Boomers: Woodstock, rock 'n roll, smokin' out, sexual revolution. George W. Bush represents the more cynical side of that generation, the side that eventually decided to abandon all those dreams of making this place a better place, and instead decided to just settle for making a little money.

The 16 years we will have endured of Clinton-Bush, by the time it's all over, to me represent the apex of the Boomer generation's political power, and also represent the war in the soul of that generation between those two forces of idealism-optimism and cynicism, played out for all to see. In the end, the primary reason I'm rooting against Hillary Clinton in this race is that I'm tired of watching the Boomers fight with themselves over who they really are and want to be.

It's time to start thinking about passing the torch to the next generation. Boomers, whatever you've still got to figure out, do it at home, in private, and let us take the country forward so we can make the hard choices and deal with all the 21st century issues we have.

Peace.