Okay, I am now at an age where I can say something like this: Presidential races in America are 99% B.S. — and the current so-called “race’ may be more B.S. than any I remember.
The first presidential race I can dimly remember was for the 1952 election. I was a small child at the time (first grade? second grade, maybe?), and as a good boy from a solid Republican family, I joined my peers in shouting “I Like Ike.” (To be honest, as a nearly life-long Democrat, I might STILL say “I Like Ike” if he were alive and running today, just because I think he was a remarkable individual.)
The first presidential election which had any personal impact on me was the 1960 race. I was in junior high (what they now designate as “middle school”) and I was in the “accelerated” or “gifted” students classes. We got into some serious debates about missiles, the Cold War, the Soviet Union, labor unions, etc. I was a supporter at this point of JFK.
The first presidential election in which I voted (you had to be 21 then, not 18) was 1968. I was deeply into a religious fundamentalism/political conservatism of the time. I made the one absolutely most regrettable presidential vote of my life. Yes, I voted for Nixon. I almost went for Hubert Humphrey, but at the last minute I let my Bible college buddies convince me that a vote for Nixon was a vote for God and righteousness in the White House.
Yeah, right.
Since that election, I have voted consistently Democratic for the presidency, though I have voted for a few Republicans on the local level, mostly people I knew or had met personally.
Which brings us to the current presidential hoedown. Swing your partners, ladies and gents, for the world will end if we don’t start presidential elections, say, a year or two ahead of the actual election day. Our nation and our world will crumble if we can’t have a media-anointed “winner” in each of the major parties before January or February 2008. (Here’s a very useful guide from the federal government which gives a nice overview of issues and events related to the 2008 election. Check it out.)
Of course, we all know that it’s going to be Hillary Clinton against Rudie Giuliani, right? And I’ve posted a couple of times in recent months that I think Hillary is unelectable, primarily because she is 1) a woman, and 2) the wife of Bill Clinton. I simply don’t think the “real” electorate out there, all the closed-mouthed grumps who avoid polls and opinion pages, is simply not ready to elect a woman president. And, many of the same folks would be outright opposed to having Bill Clinton as “First Spouse” or whatever.
But, I could be wrong. If it comes down to Clinton and Giuliani, Clinton might have the simple edge that she’s 1) actually done something as a political leader in the Senate, and, 2) has a last name folks can spell.
Ah, well, what do I know? I’m just a guy who reads the papers. (Side note: For those of you keeping track who might wonder about my short presidential history — I turned 60 in August.)
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