Political musings

I haven't done a scathing 'I hate Bush rant' in a while. Somewhere in 2005 most of the outrage was sucked out of me because it became glaringly apparent that BushCo would do any horrible thing. Am I surprised about how awful the war is going? Am I surprised that Al Queda is seemingly operational and doing well? No. Did I bat an eyelash of surprise when Scooter Libby got his out of jail free card? No. I swear I could walk into Starbucks and see a headline of Bush doing the most outrageous things and I would just sigh in disgust and get my coffee. I truly believe that Bush is going to run the clock out on the war and dump it on the next president- oh, and he's going to blame the military generals for what a clusterf**k the whole war has been. And he won't care- and I won't be in the least bit surprised or outraged by his behavior because that is just the kind of entitled, ignorant, self-involved jerk he is...

Okay, mini-rant. What I really want to write about is the absurdly early presidential campaign happening. I've been watching with interest, and glee because the Republican field is so dismal.

The Democrats:

Hillary: Well, she's super smart, and tough as nails. I'm sure she would be a strong and competent adminstrator in the White House. She's also a poor and uninspiring speaker as well as having the warmth of a popsicle. She is divisive, but the people that hate her aren't swing voters anyway. I'm actually tired of the Bush/Clinton dichotomy, which I believe is and will perpetuate the red/blue extreme divisiveness. It would be nice to move on. Also, I've had my fill of the Clintons. And spin-offs are never as good as the original show. For instance, I loved "Happy Days" with Fonzie and the gang, but I never really enjoyed "Joanie Loves Chachi"

Barack Obama: I wouldn't call myself a confirmed Obama girl yet, but I really like this guy. His fundraising indicates there is something going on. I think he is really aiming to break the red/blue thing and get people focused on solving problems rather than political labels. He also is not a smug early boomer. I'm so sick of the early boomer liberals talking about how awesome they were in the '60s or the conservatives waxing nostalgic for the 50s and how awful and immoral their liberal boomer counterparts were. I don't want to have to endure a re-hash of Vietnam like we did in '04. Vietnam is important in a historical context, but we have a more pressing current war. So, yes, his youth is appealing- the context that he views the world in seems very practical as well intellectually sound. Wouldn't that be refreshing?

He seems engaging and has JFK level charisma. His wife seems pretty awesome. His negatives are his lack of experience and he could flame out like Dean did, but I think he's smarter than that.

John Edwards: Could be the sneaker wave candidate. I think he is a good politician. He has Bill Clinton level political skills. I really like his wife too- she seems really down to earth. I applaud him for taking on poverty as a signature issue. It's not a fashionable thing to do to talk about poor people anymore. Did Reagan convince us all they were welfare queens tooling around in Caddys? I think its the moral thing to do to talk about poverty in such a wealthy country, especially as wealth becomes more and more concentrated in the hands of a few.

Bill Richardson: I think he, like Edwards, could be surprisingly strong once the voting starts. People seem to like to elect Governors for President. He has a lot of impressive experience. Sometimes he seems lacking in these debate formats and seems a little lost as a speaker. Sometimes though he is extremely engaging and he is very smart. Might be on the ticket as VP

Dodd, Biden: Could be VP candidates. Biden is smart but irritating.

Kucinich: I knew a lot of people like him in Eugene. I saw him in person once at the Portland Farmers Market. He is a tiny wisp of a man, and I respected him for appearing interested in two hippies playing hacky sack. Peace out Dennis.

Mike Gravel: Look out! Your crazy, curmudgeonly old neigbor who always screams at the kids "Get the hell off my lawn" and drives with his left blinker on for miles is running for President!! Oh man, priceless entertainment value with this guy.

Republicans. Ugh. Can I first say that their candidate pool does a marvelous job of displaying their rank hypocracy. First of all, have they remembered nothing of their heroic impeachment of Bill Clinton? Didn't they make it abundantly clear that an adulterer is morally unfit to be president? Giuliani and McCain are admitted adulterers. Giuliani is on wife number three...Fred Thompson is dumped his first wife of over 20 years to marry some trophy wife 25 years younger than him. Isn't it ironic that the one mormon front runner has the least number of wives? For those of you voting solely on the grounds of marital longevity, the top four Democratic candidates are with their first spouse- Hillary, Edwards, and Richardson have had the same spouse for over 30 years, and Obama 15. Also, weren't we told that Republicans were too stalwart to ever "flip flop" on an issue like that noodle John Kerry. Hmmm, I don't think Mitt Romney has met a side of an issue he doesn't like.

Anyway, watching these guys is like watching a grim group of angry men that don't get enough fiber in their diet.

Giuliani Really don't get was so great about him. You would think the party of moral values would have rejected this thrice married/public adulterer, but no...also he's in favor of abortion and doesn't think gay people are evil. So, I'm not tracking on his appeal to Republicans. I don't find him interesting or engaging.

Romney Morphing mormon candidate- was for a lot of stuff before he was against that stuff. People often refer to his movie star good looks. I think he has infomercial good looks, or Viagra ad good looks. I don't see him in a movie though. If people are going to knock Edwards for his expensive haircuts, then I think the American public is owed a media expose on what this guy spends on hair gel/pomade- next time on tv check out his hair it positively glistens with hair product.

McCain I used to really like and respect McCain even if I don't agree with him on many things. I really respected the campaign he ran in 2000 and some of the positions he took. I was sad to see him suck up to unsavory people and turn his back on things he believed in. In marketing parlance- he ruined his brand. Everything that made him compelling withered and died when he started sucking up to BushCo. Its sad.

Thompson Huh? Once again I'm in the dark about the appeal of this candidate. He is a movie actor minus the good looks. He has a baritone voice and a southern accent - apparently a huge advantage. I'm anxious to see him in debates, and I'm hoping once he makes a very smart point or comment that awesome "Law and Order" Cha-Chunk! sound effect will happen.

There are a bunch of other guys running too- let me see- Tancredo- hates immigrants- Duncan Hunter- Ann Coulter's favorite, so he must be a jackass of the highest order- Brownback- doesn't like abortions- Huckabee- actually kind of like him because he seems geniune and affable. I'm sure there's more but they all kind of blend together in to one glum, angry, fiber deprived group.

More political musings to follow I'm sure as the extra plus long presidential campaign rolls on.