Don't Know Much About

Isn't it a little early for this?

I know enough to know that I don't know enough about politics. I do know that our increasingly disappointing, conservative-elected president was also voted the guy that most voters "would like to have a beer with". Look where that got us. I wish those people had just taken him out for a beer instead of voting for him. I guess most people (or at least 49%) thought somehow that George Bush was a nice guy, from a good family, who had some down-home rhetoric that sounded comforting and familiar.

At least both of the current candidates have demonstrated that they can spell their own names. They were both elected to the senate. They are not stupid. But the election is a year and a half away, and already we've got a three-ring media popularity contest. Is the most popular president necessarily the best president? Is the best fundraiser necessarily the best president? Is it a race to see who can publicize their fundraising efforts and how they publicize them? One of Obama's cap feathers is the fact that a large percentage of his campaign funding is coming from donors of $100 or less. A grass-roots effort. Seems to mean something, but does it? The fact that I know that at all is testament to the speed and skill with which this information is disseminated. Obama and Clinton have both written books about themselves, so that people can get to know them before they have to vote in a year and a half. But does a best-seller make the best candidate? I guess it would be nice to have a president who was capable of writing a book, or at least reading a book. Maybe I should read their books and decide which one I like better.

Admirably, the two candidates are both U.S. senators. I'd be pissed if one of them was my senator. Obama on a diplomatic mission to Africa? What does that have to do with Illinois? What is he doing for his constituents? Hillary up past her bedtime on school nights attending countless fundraising events? How can either of them focus on the job they have to do the next day? I suppose I have a pretty low standard for multitasking at the moment. I spend most mornings blogging in my bathrobe. But I don't see how they can prioritize the job to which they were elected if their focus is pounding the pavement en route to a much grander brass ring on the carousel that is still 18 months away.

(By the way, does anyone remember the brass ring on the carousel? I do. I rode on the carousel in Santa Cruz many years ago, and they still had them. I could never get it, but my dad had one. Knowing my dad, I'll bet he still has it. It was cool.)

Ultimately, the party will have to choose just one candidate. Neither wants to be vice president. If Obamans and Clintonites are different people, will the party's voters be able to come together sufficiently to support one candidate against a republican candidate? I don't mean the party members, I mean us, the people. If we like one, can we sufficiently support the other if that is who we are offered? Does the strength of two powerful candidates weaken the support of a single candidate?

Then there is the elephant in the donkey's room: a woman, or a black man, will run against a white man for the presidency of the United States. I would love to see either be the first to win. I think it's about time. But there are people who don't think that way, and will scapegoat either of them. Whoever brings the troops home from Bush's war for his daddy's oil will look like a hero, unless they inherit something worse. I think Hillary could kick a little ass. She seems to be a suave politician. Of course, I've only seen her on The Daily Show. Then again, she's a woman who stayed with a man who had an affair with a chubby intern in the oval office. Should that matter? Should private lives be so publicly judged? If she was my friend, I'd have a hard time respecting that decision, though I suppose it's better than a high-visibility divorce for one's image. I'm still mad at Bill myself. He was the last president about whom I was honestly hopeful, and he betrayed me too. And he is going to be the chief source of advice for our presidential hopeful Hillary. Still, it's so much better than what we've got now.

Ok, so I've gotten off the track. But when asked which candidate I prefer, if I roll my eyes, now you know why. I just don't want to get burned again.

Can somebody please prioritize Global Warming? Al Gore for President. But only if he starts driving a biodiesel car.