Presidential Elections 2008: A Year of Firsts

Golly gee! What an election year! So many “firsts” could be realized that my heart goes pitter-patter when I think of the awesomeness of it all… It’s a progressive’s dream to see that a “person of color” could be the Democrat’s nominee for President of the United States. Leave it to the Democratic Party to lead the charge for “firsts!”

Don’t forget how famously fatuous and fickle is the Democratic Party, either. The first “first” idea was tossed about for several years in advance so that many people were virtually certain that Hillary Clinton would be the first female candidate who might seriously be elected President. Unfortunately, that “first” had to be put aside in favor of what many Democrats had come to believe was a more important and manly “first.” The hunger for Democratic “firsts” became so great that the old gray-haired men of the party began to feel that it could not be exposed to further risk. Supporting a Woman for President as a “first” took second place to supporting a “person of color”. Withdrawing support for Hillary Clinton, Jezebel of the generally successful Clinton years, was easy for the gray-haired men of the Democratic Party. The mold had already been prepared by the liberal media; all they had to do was to push Hillary into it and close the box. “The baggage!...the baggage!” they cried. And in the land of the Democratic Party, the cry was taken up and echoed from the hills: “The baggage!...the baggage!” Of course, it didn’t matter to anyone that the “New First” came to town with New Baggage. New Baggage is never quite the same thing as Old Baggage, according to the Graybeards of the Progressive “New Politics” of the Democratic Party.

The Republicans, too, have a “first” in John McCain. To me, it is a far more exciting “first” than any of the others. With a John McCain presidency, this will be the “first” time we have had a U.S. president who had been tortured. And another first: This will be the first time we’ve had a U.S. President who had been a P.O.W.! I suppose it hasn’t been brought up before because it is not the type of “first” which appeals to the touchy-feely people who have gotten control of the Democratic Party and their Obama Channel supporters. Being a tortured P.O.W does bring a unique perspective to the presidency, however. Being forced to sit and starve for long periods in isolation cells, group cells, small cells, punishment rooms, all the while badly in need of medical attention, does not in itself prove that McCain has the strength of character to face Volvo-driving Obama supporters in Birkenstocks at wine-and-cheese parties in the fall! Brie, Birkenstocks, and Volvos are a formidable challenge to political leadership. I’m not sure that John McCain could handle this. In light of this concern, it is understandable that many people continue to believe that John McCain is a frivolous candidate, seriously lacking a sober view of foreign policy. And who can blame such people when, across the aisle, you have a dynamic first-term Senator with a great voice who vows (that’s right...vows!) “change you can believe in?”