Elections in the U.S. over the past few Presidential cycles have tended to boil down to picking the lesser of two evils. Which one of the old white guys is slightly less evil than the other? Which one is slightly less incompetent, or slightly less likely to be a total dud, or with whom do you disagree with less?
This cycle is different, obviously, and it's one of the reasons why media coverage and popular interest is hitting the sort of intensity that it has been. For the first time since anyone of my age can remember, we have a real choice in this election. And not only that, but we have several candidates who seem to have that magic combination of vision, policy, personality and electability which can bring the most cynical and alienated non-voter out to rallies and keep them glued to CNN for hours watching speeches while getting into arguments about Texan Latinos or superdelegate responsibilities. What follies God likes to play on us. 'Be careful of what you pray for', as the old saying goes: 'it might come true'.
Hillary Clinton has, since her election to the Senate in 2000, been trying to sow the seeds of inevitablitity and entitlement to the crown of President. Her political operation, financed by the DNC establishment, wealthy New York supporters and masterminded by many of the same people who engineered her husband's victories in 1992 and 1996, was mostly successful. A lot of mainstream media sources, political junkies and regular folk were sort of convinced, without really any hard evidence, that she was the right man, er, woman for the job. It was all set up, Clinton in '08. Even though she herself was either in full denial or "won't deny or confirm" mode until her official announcement, somehow, the vast centre-left-wing conspiracy had worked its spell on Americans.
Or at least, it did, until Iowa.
Upstart, inspirational, charismatic, cult-leader, whatever you wish to call him, Barack Obama, the freakin' media magnet of our time came out and clobbered Hillary's dreams and plans like Godzilla stomped Tokyo. The surefire predetermined landslide nomination was anything but and at this moment, we are in the midst of what the old-fashioned pundits like to call "a horse race."
However, it's important to understand that despite what some right-wing diehards and indeed, some MSM reporters like to believe, this is not a war. The Obama-Clinton race is merely that, a race. It doesn't mean that Clinton supporters hate Obama, or vice versa, or that one side would not vote for the other should their candidate lose. Surveys conducted by CNN/Opinion Research last week show that "Seventy-nine percent [of Texan Democrats] say they would be satisfied if Clinton were the nominee; an equal number feel the same way about Obama." Meaning, that, the whole thing doesn't matter and that 8 out of 10 Democrats won't be burning effigies and declaring "Hail to the Thief" if the other person wins the nomination.
This race really is a choice between the greater of two goods. It's a fantastic decision to make. Sort of like "Do I want ice cream or brownies for dessert?" (Ok maybe that's got some racial subtext...) How about "Should I choose the Ferrari or the Lambo? The Benz or the Beamer? The 50 inch Plasma or the 50 inch LCD?" You catch my drift. It's the greater of two goods, and the important thing to note is that either way, America and consequently the world will better off from 2009-2013.
Keep this paradigm in mind while being absorbed into the media maelstrom over the ten months until November 7, 2008. Whether your man (or woman) gets the nod or not, be thankful for the wonder of democracy that Americans have and so many millions don't.. And also for the options we all wanted in '04, 2000, '96...
=//Turnquest
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