TBV Feature: What About 2008...If We Make It That Far?

In 1984, I was, politically, a sheep in wolf’s clothing. An aging hippie, a closet liberal, hiding my light under a bushel in an effort to draw as little attention as possible to myself among my fundamentalist Christian friends. I thought our Republican president was pompous, stupid, likely corrupt, and dangerous. But, while I fumed over my pastor’s admonishment to go to the polls and "vote for the Ronald Reagan of my choice," I couldn’t make myself vote for the Democratic candidate, either. Walter Mondale. And Geraldine Ferraro. The Democrats had been so sure of their ultimate defeat that they’d decided to make history by advancing the nation’s first female candidate for vice-president. Even so, it still took me a few minutes to remember who lost that election twenty-two years ago.

What is wrong with the Democratic party that, when they are down, they seem so easily resigned to staying down? If the 1984 election was a giveaway, what was the excuse for 1988? In the run up to that election, the Democrats managed to eat themselves alive—with the candidates digging up and exploiting dirt on each other in vicious bids to be the last man standing at the end of the primaries. (With friends like that, who needs an opposing party?) And they ended up with…Michael Dukakis? Good lord!

In 1992, the Dems put forth Bill Clinton, in large part because more prominent party leaders like Dick Gephart and Mario Cuomo had opted out of the campaign, apparently on the assumption that George H. W. Bush would be unbeatable, based on his high approval ratings after the Gulf War. Once again, the Democrats were poised to meekly hand the election to the Republican incumbent. Miraculously, after twelve years of Republican "trickle-down" economics had left middle-class Americans feeling decidedly…dry, and aided by the distraction of third-party candidate Ross Perot, Bill Clinton emerged victorious. Was anyone more surprised than the Democrats themselves?

So, dissent, disinterest, and disarray among the ranks of the Democratic Party—at least when it comes to national elections—is hardly a recent development. But, never has it been more apparent, and more frustrating, than it is now—when they are staring up into the face of an impossibly megalomaniac Republican party with a strangle-hold on both the White House and the Congress. A toweringly intimidating GOP that seems unshakably connected to all the money they could ever hope for, to keep them in power far into the foreseeable future. The American people are in drastic need of someone to mount the white charger and sally forth against the Republican Black Knight. And the Democrats…not only do they not have a knight of their own, they can’t even corral the horse.

Maybe it is a little premature to pronounce the 2008 Democratic Presidential campaign DOA. After all, how many of us had heard of Bill Clinton two years before he floated to the top of the barrel in the 1992 Democratic primaries? It’s not impossible that another dark horse could emerge and take us by surprise. But Mr. Clinton’s victory was not so much an embrace of what the Democrats stood for, as it was a rejection of what the Republicans offered—four more years of an administration irretrievably out of touch with the "common people." And it appears that the Democrats plan to adopt the blueprint of Bill Clinton’s back-door victory as an actual strategy for 2008. Just hang back and wait for the American people to become thoroughly fed up with the GOP.

The problem is, we crave leadership NOW. We need hope NOW. The reigning Republican Administration and Congress have racked up a shocking list of grievous sins against everyone from the founding fathers, to the American people, to the world community. The stakes have become too high; the issues carry too much global weight to be addressed with the name-calling, whining and bitch-slapping to which we have been treated for the last six years. In increasing numbers, Americans are rejecting the high-pitched partisan blame game and demanding real discussion of the serious issues facing the nation. We need a resounding, credible voice of reason and authority to serve notice to the GOP that we cannot allow them to continue to plunder our nation and the world at will.

In 2004, I sorely felt the frustration of residing in Oregon, when it came to the presidential election. Here we are, on the distant left coast, might as well be on the moon…with seven measly electoral votes about which no one outside of Oregon gives half a damn. We honestly are outside the loop when it comes to national politics. So, while I have somehow collected enough facts to be able to identify the issues, I get no information whatsoever about political figures outside the confines of our unimportant little state. So I’m throwing the question out there: what—or who—is the answer? Is it Obama? Gore? Kerry? A woman? A candidate of color? A veteran Washington insider? A governor? Is there indeed any Democrat who can measure up? Or will this be the opportunity for an independent or third party candidate to take it all?

Educate me. Leave a comment or send me an email. Leave links to articles, recommend some good books, get on the soapbox for your favorite son (daughter.) I’ll do the research, consult my crystal ball, and try to prognosticate the players and their positions in the upcoming political chess game (Or will it be more like charades? Or Hang-man?)

Next post: "Madame President?"

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