Thoughts on Obama, Clinton, McCain, and Huckabush

I was a reluctant Republican until George W. Bush proved the truth of the adage that anyone in America can grow up to be President. I was so disgusted and outraged that Southern fundamentalists would gladly hand the party nomination to someone who was completely clueless about basic geography, basic economics, and basic science that I immediately changed my registration. Since then, having worked in the corporate world and been exposed to the political world, I know what conservatives really think underneath the rhetoric about freedom. Freedom is actually the last thing most Republicans, conservatives, and fundamentalist Christians want.

Therefore, Governor Huckabush is the last candidate running whom I would want to see in the White House. I would think even Southern fundamentalists would be bright enough to see what happened the first time we elected a Southern Governor who was completely clueless about foreign policy. Senator McCain is an honorable man who was trashed by Bush and his fundamentalist supporters in 2000. McCain was sitting in a North Vietnamese prison camp while W. was avoiding service in the National Guard and partying his a** of in Texas. McCain is someone who should be seriously considered.

The Democratic side is more difficult. Emotionally, I would like to go with Obama. He is articulate and inspiring. Yet, I haven’t seen him tested in the ways Clinton has been. I like Edwards rhetoric, but I wonder if he can get his program through a Senate that would need 60 Democrats to prevent Republican filibusters. Obama talks a good talk about bipartisanship, but could he simply be another Jimmy Carter, a good and decent man who fails in Washington because he doesn’t understand the system?

I am torn. My heart says Obama. My brain says Clinton or McCain. I’m afraid.

Huckabush

So, the Republicans have a front-runner for the nomination who is a Southern Governor and a fundamentalist Christian who thinks Pakistan is in Central America and claims he has nothing to do with the followers and supporters of his who make anonymous phone calls and send out mailings trashing his opponents’ character and religion. Is this 2008 or 2000?

I have a frightening sense of Deja Vu. Mr. Huckabee’s ignorance of foreign policy and his pandering to the evangelical wing of the Republican Party are a repeat performance of Texas Governor George W. Bush’s 2000 campaign, when Bush said he thought the leader of Pakistan was General General, couldn’t saywhere Iran was, and claimed he couldn’t control those organizations in South Carolina working for him that were spreading the lies that John McCain had illegitimate black children.

Some parties just never learn.