I should offer a disclaimer before I write a single sentence: world and domestic news has me in a bad mood. Really bad. Perhaps what follows is just a function of misplacing my rose-tinted goggles. Then again, maybe I have a point somewhere...
A serious question for each of you. Don't lie to feel good or puff your own ego. Imagine for a second that you are a credible player to run for President (you have some stature, access to the system, lack disqualifying aspects, and have self-confidence out the wazoo). My question is simply "Would you really want to win?"
More follows, and it may even be coherent.
If you came this far, you have too much free time. But, as long as you are here, come along for the short ride.
Let me emphatically state that I am not saying that Democrats (as inconsistently focused as they may be) would not be better than the current administration. That is a no-brainer. That is not the point of this. Rather, think about the folks who say they want to be President. Put yourself in their shoes (loafers, pumps, whatever), and ask yourself what the hell they are thinking?
Take a long sip on your cup of imagination, and envision your swearing in to office in January of 2009. Consider the environment you face: American credibility around the world is shot, the Middle East continues to roil, fuel prices are a multiple of the old record, federal revenues are down because of the Bush tax cuts, the poor in the US are simply screwed, the number of nuclear powers in the world has significantly increased since 2001, education in the US is ailing and needs real money to be fixed (assuming you can get anyone to agree on a fix), the judicial branch has been hijacked as a partisan affair (at least more so than normal), and on and on. (Feel free to add to my list of problems the next President will face, load up the comments.)
What would your first act be? Your second?
Remember, you are not a dictator and will not inherit the dictatorial powers that Shrub has imagined.
The range of problems that the new Democratic President will face is numbing in breadth and depressing in depth.
My question, again, is who wants to win control of government to run this mess? Think not as which party is better (nearly everybody on this site agrees on that) but rather in terms of the individuals. What kind of psychological condition would lead someone to invest vast sums of money (little of their own) and energy (a level beyond the grasp of most of us) so that could face what are almost certainly impossible problems? They are pretty close to impossible before you factor in the opposition and the naturally fragmentation of a winning coalition.
My own view is pretty simple. I believe that anyone who is running for office (President, Congress, the state house, local government) should be able to articulate two things: 1) what they think is in need of repair, and 2) what they propose to do about it. Obviously, I like it more if the response to #2 is grounded in reality.
Ignore party for a minute - do you hear any of the wanna-be Presidents sound like they have a set of serious answers, or is all just sound-bite, PR-driven bullshit?
If we could get somebody on our side who could and would express a clear version of a vision, including solutions that did not sound like medicated crap, I think the country would flock to them. I know I would. Hell, I long to feel inspired by a leader rather that terrified of a President.
Keep your fingers crossed.
Update: Thanks to everyone who commented during the night. The dawn brings a fresh perspective, and the comments are great!