OK, I'm gonna fess up here. I'm not all that into the presidential primaries.
Not 100% sure why. I guess I'd be fine with most of the Democratic options - I think both front-runners Clinton and Obama are a bit unseasoned but both smart. I'm a little less apt to vote for Clinton just because of the ruling class aristocracy thing - we just seem to keep electing the same names: sons and brothers and now wives. I'm not too concerned about the concerns that Sen Clinton is not genuine or manipulative; I'm all in favor of a president who knows how to play chess. (I suspect checkers is beyond the skill of our present president; I know some will protest that his education belies his apparent dumbness but I've met too many unintelligent college graduates, mostly fortunate sons, to believe that)
But, I dunno. The huge sums of money that go into the process have to be corrupting; and I think on some level that no matter who survives though November will be a bit sullied as a result. Watching the media seemingly make and break candidates (as they nearly did with Sen Clinton on Tuesday) is sobering. Having schisms develop in the left (as the race vs. gender discussions regarding Clinton and Obama) strike me as playing right into the right's hands.
Maybe it's because I am at a place in life of withdrawal from the world, of introspection, where things like politics and world affairs are best left to sort themselves out. Perhaps I'm thinking that the worst and best of the presidential options are not all that far apart. Perhaps I am jaded in thinking that anyone who desires the presidency, and who has the chops to actually get there, is inherently flawed and suspect. Maybe it's because 8 years of Bush have hardened my political shell, made me immune to hope.
I'll vote, of course. I'll give it all some attention. But if you come here looking for politics.....hm. Better look elsewhere.
3 comments:
Unfortunately (or fortunately, guess it depends on perspective), any of the candidates looks lightyears better than Bush. I take some relief in knowing that all of the frontrunners, Democrat or Republican, are more educated and articulate than Bush.
It's hard to know who will keep their campaign promises, and who will stray extremely far from them. Right now, I'd just be happy with someone who isn't fueled by hubris and knows s/he must answer to the American people.
I'm sort of a junkie for the stuff myself, but I think you just did an excellent job of conveying our collective weariness and skepticism.
There is reason to be hopeful, though. Bush will go away. Away. And apathy is nowhere to be found this time. These are very good things to be rid of!
And don't let Steinem-induced bickering about race and gender get you down. Just in having those conversations, I can see that we've come a long way, baby.
Please, please, please don't think that the race is restricted to Obama and Clinton. Edwards is doing really well (with a 2nd place showing in IA, a 3rd place showing in NH and only 7 delegates less than the frontrunner - and there are 48 more states to go!).
The media is ignoring Edwards entirely and trying to turn this into the black guy vs. the woman, but he is a STRONG candidate and the progressives are really on top of that.
He was raised in a working class mill town by a mill family. He worked to put himself through college. He worked his way up through the system (a la the American Dream) and hasn't lost touch with his roots, which is unusual. He's also not a career politician, which is possibly the most appealing thing to me.
He's already garnered the endorsement of Ralph Nader who stated that he's the most progressive of all the candidates except Kucinich.
I think the one thing that I don't like about him is his reluctance to support gay marriage (though is for civil unions, it's a semantics issue), however, I DO like that he has repeatedly acknowledged that and is actively trying to work through the religious upbringing that led him there. His wife (who I freakin' LOVE - she would be such a good First Lady) is vocally against him on that issue and thinks that gay marriage should be completely equal to straight marriage.
But don't take my word for it (PLEASE!). Look into his record and his proposals. The more people learn about the man who the media is ignoring, the more people like him... especially after seeing him on fire during the NH debates.
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