Correctly Impolitic

Here it is, the beginning of July and we are already in a general election. The candidates-who have yet to be nominated, are doing their best to hold the public attention - with only limited success (the 25 people who watch cable TV politics). The questions (despite all the noise) are, who can fix the economy develop an energy policy and get out of this stupid war-probably in that order. But instead of delivering a message or even better, a solution, John McCain is whining about Wes Clark calling him names and the Obama campaign is deciding if they need to throw Clark over the wall or under the bus. I suggest that if the latter is the choice, the bus should be the straight talk express-which we may be the first vehicle oxymoron in political history.

Here are more topics for conversation. Is Obama moving to the center with his discussions about faith and guns and maybe civil liberties. Will the predominantly Black southern states vote overwhelmingly for Obama and send the south into a tizzy. Will John McCain ever feign excitement about this race? Talk about Johnny one note-he’s clearly Johnny one tone and it is mono. I know you’ll be excited to find I have answers to these questions. Barack maybe moving to the center but who doesn’t and why in the world would he do it by attacking a George Bush policy in order to promote an idea that frightens everyone who is not a Christian. Faith based initiatives are too difficult to explain with words-you have to hold hands and feel them. And guns? Having sensible gun control legislation is like having sensible sex when you’re drunk. Neither works very well , yet alone are they controllable. Will the south vote democratic? Who knows. And that’s the fun of Presidential politics. No one knows. My friend Paul Tully used to say that if a guy gets up in the morning and has a fight with his wife-who is a committed Republican, he may vote for the Democrat just for spite. All the pollsters and pundits can predict what ever they want but there are many unknowns that are not measured in the equation. An important one being the youth vote. If young people actually vote, that is if they are not busy doing their hair or listening to music, that is, if they don’t find voting an inconvenience, then Obama will win in places the “experts” never thought possible. And perhaps even more surprising, Evangelicals are not necessarily going to vote for McCain. Because they have ongoing concern for a Jesus-like approach to the world, (ministering to the poor, the outcast, and the peacemakers as well a concern for the environment), they may prefer an Obama approach government.

When I watch McCain, I have the feeling that he has found himself in a place he only thought he wanted to be. His performances (and that’s what campaign appearances are) are as lackluster as his smile disingenuous. And now he has a campaign shake-up with which to deal. Campaign shake-up’s were always a nightmare. First of all you had to explain them and second, if you were the shook, you had to figure out what to do next - oh and yes, if you were relegated to “big picture” you had to find a new job without admitting you were leaving the old. There is nothing more humiliating in DC than being moved from campaign to “big picture.

The entire focus of the Bill Clinton Presidential campaign was “It’s the economy stupid”. Sure there were a few other issues discussed but he understood that the economy was the priority issue. Unfortunately, it’s hard to pick the priority in this election. “It’s the economy stupid”, for sure. But it’s also “the energy crisis– stupid and the war-even stupider.

And so on this July 4th holiday weekend we could have a conversation, about the Constitution and loss of civil liberties but all those words and issues are too long. So why not talk about middle names. Do we want a President with the name Hussein or would we opt for Sidney. I don’t know-it may be politically advantageous to go with Sidney but does it pass the guffaw test? I mean no one laughs at Hussein-maybe because they can’t say it, but who can keep a straight face over Sidney. Now there’s a campaign topic about which we can laugh and let’s admit it - Sidney It doesn’t pass the laugh test.