BuzzFlash's Last Chance Democracy Cafe

http://www.lastchancedemocracycafe.com/?p=1326 [1]

You could fill an ocean with the tears being shed by Democrats these days — tears of anguish and tears for opportunity lost. Here we stand, in all of our lefty glory, having been handed a historic opportunity to not only reclaim the presidency, but to rewrite the (right wing tilting) genetic code that’s been controlling American politics for almost two generations.

So what are Democrats doing with this great opportunity? Well, by most accounts (including some by me [2]), we’re fu*king it up royally. Far from pushing our considerable advantages over the Republicans to there fullest, we’re allowing the increasingly nasty campaign between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to tear the party apart.

A full 28 percent of Clinton supporters tell pollsters they’ll vote for McCain [3] if Obama gets the nomination, while 19 percent of Obama supporters similarly threaten to abandon the party if their “horse” doesn’t win. Meanwhile, McCain, the GOP nominee in waiting, is free to travel the world looking presidential — or at least as presidential as someone can look while imitating a puppet [4] sitting on Joe Lieberman’s lap.

Could things be any more hopeless for the Democrats?

Well, yeah, actually they could: in fact, without in any way minimizing the damage that’s being done to the party by the bitterness of the primary campaigns, things actually don’t look all that bad for Democrats right now.

So, perhaps we should take a break from drowning our sorrows in vodka spiked lattes, to take note of something sort of important that isn’t happening to John McCain. He isn’t pulling significantly ahead of the prospective Democratic candidates. Indeed, according to the latest polls, McCain doesn’t appear to be running much better than a dead heat [5] with both Clinton and Obama.

I won’t pretend to speak for Republicans (please, Lord, don’t I have enough to be ashamed of already?), but if I were running John McCain’s campaign, I think this might make me more than a little nervous. These, after all, are his golden days: the press still loves him, the Democrats, distracted as they busily gouge each other’s eyes out, are largely leaving him alone and wayward Republicans appear to be drifting home [6].

For John McCain, this is as good as it’s going to get: yet, according to the poll numbers, at least, things actually aren’t going nearly as well for him as one might have expected, given all of the circumstances. Put another way (and I like putting it this way), for John McCain, it’s all downhill from here.

As hard as it may be to imagine right now, Democrats, despite ourselves, will eventually settle on a nominee. Even if it takes 200 ballots at the convention, at the end of the day “there can be only one [7].” Most likely it will be Barack Obama (Hillary still has a small chance, but lets go with Barack for the sake of discussion): and just like that, John McCain, instead of looking like a tired old man reading a boring prepared speech, will find himself looking, instead, like a tired old man reading a boring speech while, metaphorically, standing next to one of the most exciting — if not the most exciting — orators of the last 30 years.

Oh, and by the way, the exciting orator in question has shown a remarkable ability to raise money [8] like a son of a bitch – something for which, McCain, at least to this point, has shown little knack.

Also, as of that moment, instead of him being able to shoot at the Democrats at will, while largely escaping fire himself, McCain will find himself under return fire 24/7.

The war in Iraq — McCain’s 100 year war [9] in Iraq — will still be going strong and will still be wildly unpopular.

The economy will be in the tank and McCain will still have no idea — not the slightest clue [10] — what to do about it.

And the American people will still desperately want change [11]. Whatever other virtues Americans see when they look into John McCain’s eyes (and let’s be honest, they do see many), one thing they do not see is change.

Enjoy your spring (and perhaps early summer) basking in the sun, Senator McCain, for next fall is likely to bring colder weather.

BuzzFlash's Last Chance Democracy Cafe

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