The Old, the New, and the Ugly

Many have noted that the 2008 election will go down as one of the most significant in the history of the country, selecting the successor to the most grotesque abomination of a presidency the nation has ever experienced. We face a situation where a fed up population is screaming for change, and most interestingly, we witness the inertia of a huge political machine and the momentum of all of its parts. A new voice is emerging that operates according to new ideas and new principles. The nation is responding, but it's response is meeting resistance from those gaining most handsomely from the status quo.

THE OLD
Most vested in the status quo, of course, are the Republicans. Naturally their nominee is firmly rooted in the old accepted paradigms, a McBush puppet that will change nothing, address nothing, and at best, leave everything the same. At worst, he will inflict further damage to the already crumbling systems of health care, education, finance, transportation, world reputation, military, middle class (let's face it, everything). All infrastructures crumble under the brutal incompetence of the current regime. If John McCain has any new ideas regarding how this nation should address its disintegration, they are not showing up in the press. He is more of the same on a path in the wrong direction.

The Democratic race for the nomination offers far richer distinctions. Here the collision between old and new shows simultaneously entertaining and infuriating exchanges as the old machinery finds itself shocked and frustrated by something that it cannot grasp, understand, or address. The press itself is caught off guard and continues to downplay the phenomena. In 2008, we indeed witness the birth of a new possibility and the semi-organized and somewhat panicked response of those deeply invested in the establishment remaining as it is.

THE NEW
The astute, the intelligent, and I would argue, the "living" who can think and process information for themselves, those who break from the herd, those with a measure of courage and conviction, those who can take a stand against the grain, were the first to see the spark for what it was, responding to a young candidate who speaks from a place we've not heard from in far too long. Consider the title of his book, "The Audacity of Hope." Given the American Holocaust of the Bush Administration, the choice of the word "audacity" could not be improved. What can a President Barack Obama truly accomplish? No one, and I emphasize NO ONE, including Obama himself, knows the answer to that question. What anyone of even marginal intellect can discern without doubt is that President Obama will be a distinct departure from the current excremental excuse of a president.

THE UGLY
Against the voice of audacity Hillary sounds like an obsolete answering machine playing an over worn stretch of tape. "Clinging" to old campaign methods and tactics, her increasingly shrill panic attacks grate on the open minds of those not firmly entrenched in the Democratic Party's apparatus. Polls show declining trust in her honesty and integrity. The reason is clear: she is not honest. When I heard Hillary Clinton accuse Barack Obama of "elitism" I almost wretched. Our nation has been brought dangerously close to a precipice on literally over a half dozen fronts, and we are supposed to vote for Hillary because when Obama was twelve years old he played basketball with some guy who got a speeding ticket in 1995.

We are told that states voting for Obama "don't count." We are told that Michigan and Florida are being "disenfranchised" when the rules of the game were widely published front and center for all to see. The press continues to tout Hillary as if she were running even. They tell us she is more electable because she has more experience. No she doesn't.

Months ago I said the 2008 election would be one where the country gets to see its ass. The Ugly reached a new level for this cycle last Wednesday night in the ABC News meltdown of a debate. The event crystallized and painfully illustrated the bankruptcy of the most inane, insulting effort to trash a candidate. In the most watched debate so far, the nation groaned, and for George Stephanopoulos, the evening was a career changer. He will remain highly paid and highly successful, but the entire country will never look at him the same way again. The backlash against ABC was swift and severe.

Obama's growing strength is as underreported as Hillary's hemorrhaging support. By the way, on Friday President Clinton's former labor secretary, Robert Reich, formally endorsed Barack Obama, as have former Democratic Sens. Sam Nunn of Georgia and David Boren of Oklahoma. Super delegates originally behind Clinton are shifting to Obama, including Cameron Kerry (John Kerry's younger brother) and Nancy Larson (Minnesota DNC activist). How many do you think have shifted from Obama to Hillary?

The race for the presidency currently consists of the old, the new, and the ugly. It's time to get the ugly out of the way so the new and the old can enter the ring, and then it will get really ugly.