Wading into the mess

For someone who has spent so much of her time knee-deep in politics, I haven't said much about the 2008 election. Well, here we go.

With primary season in full swing, the political machinations of the 2008 election have "officially" started. I have been reading political commentary and listening to NPR, and even if I hadn't already decided who I was going to vote for, I would have come out for Barack Obama.

There's a lot of chatter out there comparing Obama with Bobby Kennedy. I have been thinking this same way for a while - this man has the right attitude and is saying the right things to bring a lot of people out to vote who never bothered before. I've heard and read in multiple places that he gives people hope, which is exactly what RFK did in 1968. (There's also a discussion about whether he's just saying nice things to get elected, or he means them, but I am inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.) The first-time voters in 2008 really only remember Presidents Bush(41 & 43) and Clinton, and are eager for a change. George McGovern even suggests we should go forward with impeachment -- Bush and Cheney are worse than Nixon:

Bush and Cheney are clearly guilty of numerous impeachable offenses. They have repeatedly violated the Constitution. They have transgressed national and international law. They have lied to the American people time after time. Their conduct and their barbaric policies have reduced our beloved country to a historic low in the eyes of people around the world. These are truly "high crimes and misdemeanors," to use the constitutional standard.

Yes, it's historic that a woman is running for President. And as a woman maybe I should be more supportive. But having worked for the Gores in '93 and the Campaign/Inaugural in '96-'97, I am just not impressed with Hillary. I'm sure, as any Arkansas Travelers will tell you, she's a wonderful woman. But -- until she actually showed some emotion on camera -- she doesn't give that impression to the rest of the world. Would she make a good President? Probably. Does she come off sounding too smart and calculated, the way Al Gore did in 2000? Generally. Are the Republicans champing at the bit to run against her, rather than Obama? Definitely.

So what is it? To be perfectly honest, his speeches give me goosebumps.

Hope is what led a band of colonists to rise up against an empire. What led the greatest of generations to free a continent and heal a nation. What led young women and young men to sit at lunch counters and brave fire hoses and march through Selma and Montgomery for freedom's cause.... Because we are not a collection of red states and blue states. We are the United States of America. And in this moment, in this election, we are ready to believe again.

Because he does have a chance, a great chance, to be our next President. I like John Edwards, too, but not as much. (It's sort of a shame that the mainstream media has mostly ignored Edwards, because he's the handsome white guy running for President, which isn't nearly as historic.) And what scares me the most is that some lunatic white supremacist is going to come along and try to assassinate Obama. Ugh.

My prediction for the '08 race: Obama-Edwards vs. McCain-Huckabee. It'll be a good one!

On a related topic, Bill Clinton ought to be ashamed of himself (if he knew what that feeling entailed... which he clearly doesn't.) The former POTUS should not be out there slinging mud at another Democratic candidate! He was doing such a good job being a former President, giving even Jimmy Carter a run for his money... doing charitable works, traveling around the world with Bush Sr., raising money for all kinds of causes. His cause at this point should be to get the Democrats out to vote en masse (which I think we'll all do anyway, just to get the GOP idiots out of DC)... not denigrating a candidate who, truth be told, is having the same kind of "hopes and dreams of a new generation" impact at campaign rallies that Clinton himself had in 1992. Hello?!?

ok, off my soap box, for now. ;) Hope you're registered to vote!