Political Thoughts

I missed the SOTU, but I like that Dub touted his administrations successes. I just hope that the old boy's got some fight in him when the Demmies finally pick their man. What I would love to see is George turned to his opponent and say "So you're worried about the deficit, Howard/John/Wes? Well, here's a list of programs that our government currently funds. Which ones do you want to see gone? Military spending? How origonal. Oh, you want to raise taxes? Greaaaaaaaat. That'll do wonders for the recovery. Tell you what, podner, why don't we do something about the beast that's gonna start bankrupting our government in seven years? You know, SOCIAL SECURITY?" Bet it won't happen....


And George, I like religious charities and abstinence education as much as you do. I don't want the federal government funding them, for two reasons: 1) Let's say that come this time next year or 2009, there's a Democrat in your office. Watch this Democrat attach secularist, liberal strings to that money, or yank it altogether. 2) STOP FURTHERING THE DELUSION THAT ALL SOCIAL PROGRESS COMES FROM WASHINGTON. IF I WANTED A PRESIDENT WHO BELIEVED THAT, I WOULD HAVE VOTED FOR GORE. Thank you.




In other news, Dick Gephardt has officially gone down in flames, and with him, I suspect, the last of the Old-School Democrats. I dunno if they're going to be able to summon up a guy who enjoys that kind of automatic union support and is a foreign-policy hawk as a matter of course. In FDR and Truman's days, that kind of combination was expected. In the future, it will be exceeding rare among Democrats. They'll get their union support from the same old machines that have always provided them (with a greater emphasis, methinks, on public-sector unions), and draft diplomat-generals to avoid the "wuss" slur.




Predictions? Dean's not done yet. He's still got money, and clearly still has the will to fight. But if he embarasses himself in New Hampshire, it might hasten the entropy his campaign has taken on. Kerry's looking strong, for reasons that are utterly unsurprising: he is the Establishment Liberal candidate (the irony of which, given his past, is reason enough to more accurately call him the Frankenstien's Establishment Liberal candidate). All he has to do is stand up and say "I'm John Kerry. I'm very concerned about things. Did you hear I was in Vietnam?" In the wake of Iowa, Lieberman doesn't look like quite so much of a long shot, but I don't think he's got the charisma for the top job. It will be interesting to see where his supporters go. Wes Clark is starting to get the "loonier than Dean" tag (witness the way his calling attention to the differences between his and Kerry's military record becomes "belittling" Kerry's service). He might pull ahead in New Hampshire, but Democrats are starting to turn a "yucky" face at him. Al Sharpton might cost him victory in South Carolina.


As to John Edwards, he turns out to be the poster boy for tort reform. That makes him officially the candidate I least want to be President.