Desperately seeking integrity…
When I look at the array of likely 2008 presidential candidates, from both parties, I feel a bit queasy. I am an independent, I have voted for both Republican and Democratic candidates in the past. I do certainly pay attention to a candidates policy stands but I am would prefer to vote for candidates that have shown some leadership and integrity.
I have not seen much of either in the last few years…
So who do we have in the running?
- John McCain – I voted for him in the past but I don’t think he has shown much leadership or integrity of late. He must despise GW, look at the tactics that GW’s campaign used against him during the primary. Yet he has repeatedly allowed the Bush campaign to use him to shore up GW’s rather deficient military credentials. And he must have known from day one what a disaster Iraq would be. So, forget McCain.
- John Kerry – God I hope he doesn’t run. To my mind John Kerry is the Democratic equivalent of GW. Hyper-privileged, went to all the best schools, had everything handed to him on a plate, achieved nothing, and then went into politics. He’s been the senator from my state for as long as I can remember and yet I cannot think of single bill he initiated, or principled stand he took. And he did flip-flop. Like McCain, he must have known that the Iraq invasion was stupid but he was scared of the polls and voted to invade like all the other gutless wonders in Congress… So no to John Kerry.
- Mitt Romney – It’s sort of funny. I actually helped vote Mitt in as Governor. I doubt many people outside of Massachusetts understand the peculiar political dynamics that got Mitt elected as a Republican Governor in an overwhelmingly Democratic state. The Massachusetts legislature has been dominated for decades by a corrupt bunch of South Boston Irish-American politicians and they have totally dominated the State’s Democratic machine. The voters have repeatedly voted in Republican Governors… Essentially, as a protest. Mitt got voted in because a majority of voters figured voting for Mitt was the equivalent of a write-in vote for “Mickey Mouse.” He’s a Republican version of John Kerry. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, floated through life thanks to lots of money and political connections. Never really accomplished anything. Oh, I forgot, he ran the Salt Lake Olympics… Right. With that on his resume, sorting out Iraq will be duck soup.
- Hillary Clinton – Hillary is intelligent, seems to work very hard, and is about as tough a character as I have ever observed in US politics. But I also think she is unscrupulous and self-serving. Her constant support for unacceptable Israeli policies and blatant pandering to the NY Jewish vote is quite unattractive.And she seems to be taking a page out of the G.W. Bush playbook… Never admit a mistake. When challenged on her voting to support the Iraq invasion she says she was misled by the Bush administration erroneous information about WMDs and connections between Iraq and Al Qaeda. Yeah right. Whatever else one can say about Hilary, she’s nobody’s fool, she knew the administration justification was bullshit. But she was reading the polls and decided to do what was politically expedient at the time. It has come back to haunt her and I suspect it will thwart her presidential ambitions.
- Rudolf Giuliani – I thought Giuliani handled himself well after 9/11 and he was also able to maintain at least some distance between himself and GW… Against what I imagine was immense pressure. So.. Rudi’s a possibility.
- John Edwards – I always preferred him to Kerry. I have a bias towards self-made types as opposed to wasted scions of our imitation aristocracy. I am not crazy about lawyers but I prefer a good one to a bad one. And I like his policies. I might vote for John if he survives the primary season.
- Barak Obama – I am getting serious doubts about this guy. Does he have any kind of track record? What has he done apart from getting elected to Congress? He speaks very well but it seems to be largely platitudes. He is getting tons of media attention but for what?
Update 31JAN09: What a difference a year makes. Not only is Obama our new President but I actually voted for him. It took about 6 months but by the time the Democratic Convention was looming, Obama had convinced me that he was, if not “The One”, then at least the best choice available… And we have Hillary as Secretary of State. Oh well, at least she’s not incompetent and, one hopes, Obama has folks keeping an eye on Bill.
I really feel that American politics is devolving… We are getting more Third World. We vote in George Bush, Senior and then eight years later we vote in GW. What’s that remind you of, eh? Papa Doc and Baby Doc.
And now people are seriously talking about Hillary. What’s that remind you of? Juan and Eva Peron, maybe? Maybe we’ll have Madonna sing “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina” at the convention.
Remember Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. I cannot say I was all that impressed with them back when they were in office but, boy, do they look good compared to the current bunch.
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