It’s coming to America first,
the cradle of the best and of the worst.
It’s here they got the range
and the machinery for change
and it’s here they got the spiritual thirst…
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
Photo ID: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
As I write this, it’s exactly 53 days to the American presidential election. Republican John McCain has been basking — some would say ‘wallowing’ — in the glow that is Sarah Palin. Democrat Barack Obama, meanwhile, has been huddling with his advisors trying to decide how best to counter the effect that having a female on the GOP ticket has had on Senator McCain’s popularity - he’s on top in almost every major tracking poll. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
About eight months ago some low-level political media darling who added ‘pundit’ to his resume suggested that “…a refrigerator could beat McCain this year…” But it was Howard Dean, head of the Democratic National Committee, former governor of Vermont and former presidential candidate in 2004 who said the following words on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart more than a year ago:
“The Republicans are the best campaigners. They know how to campaign - but they can’t govern. Democrats, on the other hand, know how to govern… but we have problems campaigning.”
Not a very soothing thought. Not a phrase that instills confidence in the left-leaning electorate.
Watching and listening to Senator Obama for the better part of nineteen months it’s tough to see how anyone could have launched, conducted and maintained a better-run campaign for the presidency. Even if you forget the fact that he’s black and that his relatively rapid ascendancy to challenge for the highest office in the land is both historic and awe-inspring, a comparison of his suggested policies and voting record opposite John McCain should leave no one in doubt as to who the better president would be. The last eight years alone should shave more than a few points off McCain’s chances with Vegas odds-makers.
And yet, here we are. Today’s Financial Times of London contains a banner headline, “Democrats On Capital Hill Fear Obama Fallout”. A wire story circulated to newspapers all across the United States last week stated that, privately, congressional democrats are ’suddenly’ concerned about Obama’s chances. Yesterday’s Gallup Poll on the congressional races was headlined, “Battle For Congress Suddenly Looks Competitive”. That refrigerator appears to be fully stocked. No, it wasn’t supposed to be this way.
It seems so easy to have it all slip away. The brass ring, within grasp, is snagged by an interloper. Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. Perhaps a look back will help put some distance — literally — between the desire that was and the reality that is. Take that ’sure thing’ and knock it off its pedestal so we can all get a better look. (more…)