Start Now
This is a follow-up to my previous diary on this,
here, which disappeared pretty quickly. What I want to know is, why should we wait until 2008 to start electing a new President? Haven't you wished at some point in the last few years, that we could just have the next Presidential election right now, and skip all the horrors that Bushco has in store for us? Well, why not do it? Bush is bleeding more and more political clout by the hour. If he gets any less popluar with the American people (and even his base), he could be a genuine lame duck, with almost three years left in his term. Why not add a little weight to the albatross that is George W. Bush? Why not work to build up this notion that he's just riding out his term? See below the fold for my ideas...
To take best advantage of the situation, 2007 is too late to begin the presidential primary season. We should start now, with a series of presidential primary debates in each state. They can't be the kind of circular firing squad we've seen in the past, but rather, a kinder, gentler forum, where the only blood to be drawn is Shrubsap. These would be discussions among allies. Imagine the exposure if Grover Norquist, instead of bringing together conservative leaders behind closed doors, was to put them out in a public forum a few times a month, talking about why those libruls are a danger to Our Amerika. Now, to be sure, the media novelty could quickly wear off, but we would know that every few weeks, another event would be taking place, where the main topic of discussion is "George Bush has been bad for this country. Conservative values have damaged this country. Americans deserve better..."
I'll steal a page or two from Stirling Newberry's great diary, which, although it's more oriented toward changing the primary calender, makes some of my points more eloquently than I could.
Stirling Newberry:
The better way to run a primary season would be to have later actual primaries, and more of what used to be called "beauty contests". The pre-primary season was important in 2003. That season produced - well the blogosphere's roll in politics, and has reshaped the Democratic Party's agenda and power structure - and that change is on going. More beauty contests would allow for an early winnowing of the field, and then allow a more focused group of candidates to enter into the bubble of retail politics. It would also be beneficial for Iowa to move to a primary, rather than a caucus system.
|
[candidates] jockeying for position in these two states now overwhelms everything else - trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, locking up the local political machine, replace building a broad based coalition. In the days when Presidential contenders didn't campaign, but had to cobble together coalitions for the convention, this was less of a problem. Now, we have to ask whether it is healthy to have nominees spending all of their time courting voters for two or three years, when they need to be building a national network of supporters to run a national campaign
|
Sterling Newberry's Diary:
What better way to build that base of supporters than by going out to speak to them, not two years from now, but now, and next month, and the month after, and on and on, building relationships and teams of supporters. What better way to strengthen local party structures in all 50 states, and to build up party volunteers than by asking them to host such an event.
By and large, the people who will be running for President in 2008 know it today. They've begun to position themselves. Well, why not ask them to step up today, and really start showing us what they've got.
Well - what do you think? Start NOW or just sit tight?