Anyhow, there’s a party in deep trouble if ever you’ve seen one. Their only candidate who can win is hated by the kleptocratic establishment for only being willing to rip off three-fourths of the national wealth on behalf of the ruling class, rather than all of it. It’s truly delightful to see the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter foaming at the mouth when considering the prospect of McCain getting the nomination. The guy loves Clarence Thomas, loves the war, wants more of both, is down for making the tax cuts permanent, and opposes abortion across the board. But he is, alas, not conservative enough for this lot. Can you imagine? If you were ever inclined not to be afraid, very afraid, about the right in America, that notion ought to reorient your head just a bit.
Their other choice is the real deal – Morphing Mitt himself – the true conservative, the man who never met a voter whom he couldn’t find a way to slobber all over. This guy’s a one-man pander-fest. Even Republicans hate him (but the money people, of course, never let sentiment get in the way of a healthy profit margin). What a looney, too. Did you see him riffing in his speech after losing (again) in Florida? About all the things America asked their government in Washington to do, and it didn’t. No doubt that’s because we’ve had a Democrat in the White House for 20 of the last 28 years! Right?! Er, wait a minute – did I get that backwards...?
What a week it’s been in presidential politics. Hillary has become unglued. Obama is now imbued. McCain is back from the dead, while Giuliani and Edwards have gone off life-support. Even Kucinich is no more. And the only thing more frightening than the prospect of a Mitt Romney presidency – the actual current president – gave his state of the onion address this week, a pathetic yawner notable only for its sheer lack of ambition and a recounting of the distance we’ve fallen. All that remains now is the petulance. At least that hasn’t changed. Just the same, what the hell is with the Democrats giving this guy the warm treatment in the halls of Congress? This is not just some president who should be respected because of his office. This is a home-wrecker. This is a destroyer of the same Constitution that created the very Congress hosting him. This is a guy who has spent seven years turning Congress (with a lot of their own help) into the equivalent of the human appendix. You might as well give standing ovations to George III, you know? Both are equally anathema to American constitutional democracy.
But now we’re down to four, and perhaps even less after Super-Duper Tuesday right around the corner. The bad news is that it looks a lot like McCain for the GOP. He is clearly their best chance at the White House. If the Dems are stupid enough to go with Hillary, I have a hard time seeing McCain losing. Only Democrats could find a way to fumble in 2008, when everything imaginable is going their way (everything except that they’re Democrats, of course). Maybe if George Washington himself came back and stumped for the Democratic nominee they could possibly have more going for them than they do now. Maybe. Maybe if Jesus showed up and ID’d Cheney as the anti-Christ might the Democrats have slightly better conditions for winning this year. Not necessarily, though. And yet still there’s something of a chance that they would blow it, and probably every chance they would if they pick Clinton as their standard-bearer.
Progressives can hope that Romney pulls it out and buys his party’s nomination, which is still the best bet for Democrats locking it up. Short of that, it’s time to start thinking about the shape of these potential White Houses. Hillary is the most predictable of the three. She’ll be the epitome of safeness, moderation and poll-driven nickel-and-dime politics. Four years later, not a damn thing would have changed. McCain, on the other hand, could actually be a bit interesting as president. I see him as far less the captain of his party than its long-suffering captive. Given that he could put together a fat popular and governing coalition of independents and Democrats whilst taming elements of his own party, he could actually achieve some unexpected results, and he’d be in a hurry to do so, too. He’d be Unchained McCain, to be sure, and the DeLays and Limbaughs of this world would be crushed when they got in his way. No doubt he would make some horrendous choices for the federal courts, but otherwise – even on Iraq – I don’t think we know exactly what McCain would actually do, other than not sit still. Some of it could even be quite progressive. This could be an ‘only Nixon could go to China’ moment, times three or four.
That leaves Obama, the obvious choice – though, unfortunately, for me still as much by default as the lesser of evils than on his own merits. I’m afraid my expectations for what he might do would be for something well less than bold initiatives, progressive or otherwise. The constant comparison to JFK may be more instructive than people realize or intend. The 35th American president to this day – especially today – was a lot longer on symbolism than real substance, especially of the progressive kind. My guess is that Obama would likely be the same, in both respects: Lots of aren’t-we-all-together-now rhetoric, little substantive change.
It sure is true that we could do a lot better than that. But we also know that we could do one heck of a lot worse.
Because we are.
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