I saw the news today.
Oh boy.
From the minute I was old enough to comprehend that the United States had a two-party system, I have been awestruck at the Dems' capacity to shoot themselves in the foot. At this moment, from my lofty perch in the Canadian Peanut Gallery, I cannot conceive of a larger caliber bullet for the job than Hillary Clinton. My wife has a co-worker in North Carolina who summed up US' voter response thusly: Americans vote for who they like, and if we were to rank the three current candidates in terms of "edge (abrasiveness) factor" there is no contest: the crown goes to Hillary, with McCain cinching up second place.
This deceptively simple maxim goes a long way to explaining every presidential race within my living memory (Ford/Carter to the present). Run this theory by a voting Democrat, though, and watch 'em bristle. "The presidency isn't a congeniality contest! You have to consider experience, character, their personal record on major policies, their ability to negotiate, blah de blah." Yeah, well -- keep trying to persuade yourselves of that. If the melange of what it takes to select a presidential candidate truly required such reasonable qualities, Dennis Kucinich would have won by a landslide. But he's not popular enough. He isn't a professing Christian, for one thing. On this and other crucial fronts he shows a damnable incapacity to speak anything but what he truly thinks.
Nope. My wife's co-worker has it right: the presidency is a congeniality contest. And he didn't hesitate to add that if it ever came down to McCain and Obama, the latter would win. (Did I mention this observation was made by someone from North Carolina?)
What we need down here below the border is an intelligent, perceptive, and (relatively) clean person who has charisma and yet a touch of humanity (as evidenced by taking the wrong fork in road somewhere along their illustrious public life).
ReplyDeleteThat person, in my mind, would be someone like Ken Dryden.
Hockey God.
Lawyer.
Leafs management (that fork in the road I'd mentioned that humanized an otherwise perfect life. And doesn't every precious diamond have a flaw that makes it unique?)
Any way we can work out the paperwork so that his attendance at an American university automatically makes him a US citizen negates the need for him to be born in the lower 48 to qualify as a candidate?
No?!?
Damn! Then, what the hell are you folks waiting for? Why hasn't he been drafted for possible prime minister?
Dryden? Likeable?! In print, yes -- but have you seen him on air? No, he may be a capable and much admired man, but I don't believe he'll ever be likeable.
ReplyDeleteAs an Obama supporter from day 1, I never really knew what people saw in Hillary to begin with. She's not likeable, she's red meat for the Republican base, and she's got a history of changing her opinion whenever it's convenient.
ReplyDeleteBut all that aside, what are people thinking still voting for here at this stage in the game, when we all know the only way she can win is by twisting arms of super delegates and dividing the democratic party?
WP,
ReplyDeleteI never said likeable! Give me an honest and competent bastard who I'll grudgingly admire anyday over a likeable bouffant who's selling me down the river to his/her cronies.
JS - I am tempted to speculate on the depths of Ms. Clinton's vituperative temperament, but shall decline.
ReplyDeleteDV - unfortunately, I added the "Kucinich clause" after you made your original comment. Since I live in a country that almost had the opportunity to vote for Dryden, I choose to throw my vocal support behind a candidate beyond my voter's reach (DK).