Political Ideology Aside . . .

Here's something to think about--party affiliation and political ideology aside.

The two current front runners for the office of President of the United States have never served in any executive office.  If one of these two is elected, this means our President will have no executive experience whatsoever.  The Senate does not create leaders, it creates pompous compromisers--the key to getting anything done in the Senate, but a principle that is inimical to leading the nation.

The two front-runners for the office of President of the United States have run on the theme of "change."  Yet both are consummate Washington insiders blinded by "Beltwayitis."  Despite the rhetoric, Clinton and McCain are clearly the establishment candidates.  Change?  Not from these two. 

The two front-runners for the office of President of the United States have both managed to alienate a significant portion of  the members of their own parties.  McCain is universally reviled by small-government conservatives in his own party (indeed, he's antagonized them repeatedly), while Clinton has played the race card with Obama (the black candidate who, ironically, has eschewed making race an issue).  If elected, either one will have significant problems with their base throughout their entire term of office.

Of course, things could change on Super Tuesday and Romney or Obama might reverse the current dynamics of the race (very unlikely, however).   At this point, I'm convinced that our current primary system is not serving us at all.   I liked the good old days of the smoke-filled party conventions when we got better candidates.   

And with all of this electioneering taking place so far in advance of the general election, will anybody still be interested in November 2008?  Any wonder why I am so cynical about American politics? 

Comments

[Love the primaries]

I have to say that I love these primaries. They are far more interesting than the last few cycles.

Its true that primaries can be skewed by dirty tricks, recall the misinformation campaign in South Carolina in 2000 when Bush supporters reported that McCain's adopted child was his bi-racial illegitimate child.

It seems like this primary is really sifting the sand. Voters are really having to make tough choices. On the Dem side they have eliminated the slimeball charlatan Edwards, and on the GOP side they've killed vapid factionless Thompson, Arkansas yokel Huckabee, and deseperately deviant Ron Paul.

Florida shows that the winnowing gets stronger as GOPers chose between forgiving McCain for his outrageous offenses and electing the endlessly pandering Bishop Romney.

The dem race gets more interesting as the battle heats between an inspirational cream puff and Cruella deVille.

Now is the time to start speculating about veeps. Clinton seems set to pick conservative dem Baye, while Obama will surely choose himself as his running mate (or perhaps the scandalously disingenuous and ingratiating John Edwards).

Who will Romney pick? Most definitely the Huckster to shore up concerns from evangelicals and southerners.

McCain is really the question mark in this mix, since he will be torn between his heart (Lieberman) and his head (Huckabee), but would probably be best served by stumping with inspiringly thicker darker hair and a slight gubernatorial drawl who talks something slick about household economics, but not Huckabee... maybe Mark Sanford, Bobby Jindal? But I wouldn't completely rule out Crist, despite his marital status and white dome.

Huckabee, Thompson, and Guiliani have been running for veep for a while, but I never got the sense that McCain was reciprocating.

Even so, I'd give Huckabee at least 60% odds on becoming the GOP veep candidate.

[carolyn]

"deseperately deviant Ron Paul."

Unbelievable the way intelligent Christians (well, I assume those reading here are) have been decieved by the MSM.

Ron Paul has a voting record going back decades, and his supporters say that every vote is a vote for the Constitution and the bill of rights.He is a devout Christian who believes our Republic must obey the law, and he votes every time to uphold the laws that the founding fathers established.

Feel free to disagree with the men who founded this nation if you like. But at least have the integrity to admit that the deviation is not on Ron Paul's part. And have the humilty to admit that where you disagre with his positions, you are disagreeing with the Constitution itself.

[Vox populi vox dei]

The other parties are too skewed to a single issue to move past GO. If they were more balanced don't you think that they would come out looking like one of the either parties anyhow? I guess I'm trying to weigh things still. Paul is a constitutional conservative--wonderful--but hey, we were attacked and don't the Iraq citizens deserve freedom too? Romney, was a conservative in Mass,wow,that says something. There's an executive-in- chief;-) Come Nov, if not Mitt, a McCain & Thompson ticket will still be a safer ride than a Clintons;-)

[GameBred]

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

Please vote for Ron Paul if you love this country and freedom. Why even consider any of the other Republicrats or Demoncrats? He is a man of his word and has a voting record to prove it. I'm from Tx and I can tell you he is a breath of fresh air and will be dearly missed when he is one day gone. God bless him.

[msw]

As an oddball, I'm voting for McCain. I would like to put down the far right talk radio, and the other extremists on "Christian" radio.
I'm tired of the hate talk. Just because you're not voting for their guy, you're not a Christian.

[Alberto]

I am a young guy, and I have already grown tired of hearing about the need for change and the lack of bad candidates. "We need someone to fix government" is the sign of someone who is not looking at politics realistically. Government will be flawed until Christ returns, and no one will ever be satisfied with American government and politicians. People do expect too much from government. Government is composed of different minds constantly working against each other. Issues pop up and situations occur which make candidates change their policies while in office in order to deal with them. It's perfectly acceptable to criticize and search for the best candidates, but people should be realistic about what our governments and politicians can accomplish.

[Love the primaries]

Carolyn ("desperately deviant"),

I didn't intend to convey that I thought he wore tight leather straps under his clothes, but clearly he is an isolationist freak.

I'm not suggesting that he doesn't belong to Christ. I do think the only reason he would be President is if God wanted to bring us great suffering in order to help us grow in grace.

[Joe]

If Hillary wins, does that mean we will have a two-horse wagon in the white House Saying that ole Bill won't be putting his 2 cents worth at every moment is like saying Hillary does't want the feminist vote. Heck, maybe McCain can be VP and Al Sharpton attorney general.