So Glad It’s Almost Over
I am a political animal and a news junkie. But after years of the 2008 presidential contest, I’m oh-so-weary of the all of the calculated and practiced rhetoric.
After all of the overblown predictions and warnings and promises, we are all a bit guilty of the “political illusion” that politics, the right government, and the right policies will bring social harmony, spiritual enlightenment, world peace, better baseball, and a panacea for whatever ill inflicts our personal lives.
On Tuesday we will either have a historic comeback that ranks with Truman/Dewey, or a historic mixed race president. But at least this campaign will be done and the next chapter of American life will begin. We’ve had early voting in Georgia this week and the lines at the polling places here in the northern suburbs of Atlanta have been very long. A lot of people are voting early, which either indicates an unprecedented high voter turnout, or a lot fewer people voting on election day.
I will be voting for the McCain-Palin ticket, which is running only slightly ahead here in Georgia—obviously not a good sign for Republicans in the deep south, where they should be comfortably ahead.
A few observations as we await the election on Tuesday:
· If the Democratic Party does not capture the presidency next week, it will be in enormous disarray and its ability to win nationally will be in question for years. If the Dems don’t win with the war in Iraq souring the country before we began to prevail, with the economy dragging and now crashing, with the failure of the Bush administration to maintain even a drumbeat of enthusiasm in its second term, and with a smooth talking and careful candidate—the Democratic Party will need to make wholesale change (which would be good).
· The Republican Party doesn’t deserve to win, and is preferable only in comparison to the horrendous policies of its opponents.
· Sarah Palin was brilliant choice for an underdog candidate who was not supported by the base of his party (unfairly, I believe, and if McCain loses I place partial blame squarely at the feet of the pouting conservatives, who failed to rally early and often, and evidently decided until recently to wait for the perfect candidate in four years).
· If Obama becomes president, he will work with a very Democratic congress for the most liberal agenda in our memory. But Pelosi and Reid haven’t shown much political skill or even a shred of subtlety in their governing, and together with an enthusiastic young President they will totally overplay their hand—even worse than the first two years of Bill Clinton—and if the Republicans can find a leader in the mold of Newt Gingrich, they can lead a new contract for America in 2010 and begin recapturing the Congress.
· If Obama becomes president, there will be many bad policies, but bad policy can be reversed.
· The greatest concern for me of an Obama presidency is the reshaping of the Supreme Court over four or eight years into a solidly liberal, activist court for the next generation. I cannot begin to recite here all of the ways that will fray the fabric and character of American life.
· My second greatest concern is that America’s military and intelligence capabilities will be compromised by another president (like Clinton) who doesn’t’ believe that peace is the result of strength, not by playing nice with evil. I don’t think Obama will pull troops out of Iraq prematurely or make rash military changes that will endanger America immediately—sitting in the Oval office will sober him up and moderate his radical isolationism. The damage will come over time and the danger is long term weakness.
· The economy will recover, because that’s what it does, but if Obama is elected the recovery will be muted by the overtaxing of the engines of American wealth–the productive, the successful, and the businesses.
· There is going to be massive voter fraud throughout the country that should—but probably won’t—result in the national requirement of photo ID’s for anyone who votes. The stories that emerge about Acorn and others will stretch on for years. And if the election is close, we may see far more law suits than in 2000.
But maybe McCain-Palin will mount a historic comeback. Wouldn’t that be a blast? I do think it is quite possible, but not likely.
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