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Filibuster

Losing Elections: Democratic 101

September 1st 2008 12:31

I imagine that the day after Obama’s acceptance speech involved the following: waking up the next morning; calling John Kerry and his campaign staff and asking how to proceed; and promptly falling off the face of the earth. Where are the Democratic candidates? John McCain is easy enough to find, nominating a woman who, for all I know, might be nice but has a strong whiff of ‘Quayle’ about her. He’s also been seen around Mississippi and is at least within the general vicinity of Louisiana, looking presidential.

I ask again, where’s Obama?

With this single week, Obama can either define himself, or be defined as Kerry-Lite: just as detached, but more likeable, than the original. If an embarrassing photo of Obama emerges this week (think Dukakis and his helmet, or Kerry and his weird full-body condom), consider the election over.

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Posted By: The Grumpy Traveller - Category: No Category

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Where to, Conservatism?

August 23rd 2008 15:21

The idea of Mitt Romney being named John McCain’s running mate has me thinking about the perilous state of conservatism in American politics and, more broadly, the damage that George Bush has done to conservatism over the last eight embarrassingly achievement-free years.

Romney would be a ridiculous choice for every conceivable reason, and the only benefit for McCain would be Romney’s willingness to throw around bags of his own money. In any other year, would Romney – with the way he ran his presidential campaign – be considered, even fleetingly, as a potential Veep? If McCain’s objective is to appeal to social conservatives, they why choose someone they rejected in the primaries?

More generally speaking, why choose someone so instantly dislikeable? Romney takes ‘smug’ to new and unforeseen levels, and his desperation for national importance is shameless.

How has it comes to this? Moderates, having been pushed aside since 1994, lost their voice. The fringe of the GOP became that guy at the party who insists on controlling the stereo, then thinks it’s fun to play ‘Bailamos’ 12 times in a row. Yes, you oppose gay marriage and abortion and Democrats, and you think that [insert name here] is the “most liberal [position] in the [legislative body]”. We know. What else?

Hopefully, as the GOP tries to redefine its identity, reactionary opportunists like Romney will lose whatever influence they still have. The Party might then be able to stand for something, instead of being opposed to [liberals! San Francisco! KENNEDYS!!!].

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McCain 2008 is Like 80s Bowie

August 22nd 2008 07:34

You know how David Bowie’s music in the 80s was really terrible? I’m watching a ‘Best of Bowie’ DVD right now and it’s just hit ‘D.J.’, and I’m trying not to acknowledge that it sucks, but it does. It’s so bad that my dogs keep looking at me after each particularly loud riff, clearly thinking, “What the hell, woman?!” The poor boys are trying to nap, after all. They don’t need this kind of guff. But I still have a huge amount of respect and admiration for David Bowie, even though it’s all been a bit downhill since ‘Diamond Dogs’.

McCain 2008 is the 80s Bowie to McCain 2000’s ‘Hunky Dory’. Instead of independently minded – if slightly less mainstream – classics like ‘Quicksand’ and ‘Life on Mars’, McCain 2008 is singing the political equivalent of the God-awful ‘Dancing in the Streets’ duet with Mick Jagger (for our purposes, George Bush). It makes sense, sadly enough, but around a quarter of the US populace still approves of Bush, and that quarter might turn up to the polls in November. McCain needs them if he’s going to stop making ‘cult classics’ and start producing some triple-platinum records. [And with that, my analogy is officially strained to breaking point! Good work for staying with me, everyone!]

To be fair, I think it’s impossible to judge what kind of president someone would be, based on a campaign. All a campaign proves is whether or not you’re a good salesman. McCain, if he wins, might land himself a place amongst the greats (just as Obama might surpass his Beatles-circa-‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ status as a “craze” and end up producing a presidency that’s considered a classic, much like ‘Sgt. Pepper’ or ‘Abbey Road’. But that’s another post). Bowie did eventually make ‘Heathen’ and ‘Reality’, after all.

Filibuster

Losing Elections: Democratic 101

Where to, Conservatism?

McCain 2008 is Like 80s Bowie

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