In May '07 I posted my thoughts about the field of presidential candidates as the campaign got underway.
As I re-read that post today I winced because, in light of recent events, I got it pretty well wrong.
I was absolutely sure that by now, Giuliani would be the presumptive Republican nominee, and pretty sure Hillary would have a lock on the Democratic nod.
And now Rudy is out of the race and back to making speeches about what a great job he did on 9/11 at a hundred grand a pop; John McCain, whom most people (LIFSOS included) thought was down for the count is now in the pole position; and on the Dem's side of the aisle, Hillary is obviously still a strong contender, but Obama is giving her quite the run for her money.
Let this be a lesson to you: Never trust LIFSOS when he prognosticates about politics . . . or, for that matter, about economics, technology, culture . . . or about anything, really.
So things sure are getting interesting out there on the hustings.
I greeted the news of Giuliani's bailing with a sigh of relief. As should the electorate as whole. I remain convinced that if Rudy took up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania, he'd make Dubya look like Lincoln.
And I'm lovin' this McCain surge. I don't agree with some of his positions on various issues, but he's clearly possessed of independence and integrity--or at least as much independence and integrity as it's possible to possess as a U.S. Senator.
(Well--speaking of integrity--there was his role in the "Keating Five" scandal, which most people seem to have forgotten. But every presidential contender should get a "mulligan" on one scandal in their past, I think. After all, no one's talking much about Hillary's lucrative little foray into cattle-futures trading, either . . .)
I like the fact that McCain opposes "waterboarding" and other forms of torture. Gee, do ya think that attitude has something to do with the fact that McCain himself spent five-and-a-half years hanging from his ankles in the Hanoi Hilton, being beaten up by the Cong on a daily basis?
Moving to the Dems, I feel kinda sorry for John Edwards.
I really don't know much about Edwards, but I caught some of the last Democratic debate (the "round-table" one) and thought he was very impressive.
It was like:
HILLARY: "Experience experience middle class yada yada yada."
OBAMA: "Change innovation 'yes we can' yada yada yada."
. . . While when Edwards could get a word in edgewise, he actually spoke thoughtfully (not in platitudes), and instead of nattering on about "the middle class" (whatever that term means in 21st-century America), he gently suggested that maybe the government should do a little bit to help the real have-nots of our society.
Which of course has been a heretical idea in American politics since, oh, about 1968.
So on the Dem side it's now a two-horse race, and it seems to be trending that way on the Republican side . . . but can Huckabee now be counted out?
I'd like to think so, but you never know . . . I can only quote Sinclair Lewis: "When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."
Well, we've got a Hillary vs. Obama debate tonight and Super-Duper Tuesday is coming up fast, so LIFSOS awaits further developments.
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