Was socializing this weekend with some political friends and the subject turned to ‘08. I brought down a storm of no friggin ways by mentioning my favorite American governor, Jeb Bush, about whom, truth be told, I feel much stronger than I did about Bush pre-2000. When I tired of insisting that I’m no monarchist, I shifted the debate to John McCain’s health. In this incredibly self-selected neocon-to-moderate-left room, the Arizona senator was the consensus candidate, though the first thing we talked about was his age and health. And as Bob Dole knows, it’s not a good thing when voters are fixated by your relative frailty. (McCain will be 72 in 2008; Ronald Reagan was 73 when he ran for reelection.) The liberals in the room were concerned that McCain's not vicious enough to win (though this may have had something to do with their idiosyncratic view that he basically surrendered to Bush dirty tactics in the South Carolina primary.) After McCain, Rudy was the talk, though with warning signs given his recent weird behavior in the Bernard Kerik-nomination fiasco. A bum nomination is one thing; gloating in your failure afterwards is just bizarre. Hamminess in general, though a good character trait in New York City politics (see Ed Koch), is decidedly unpresidential—though it’s certainly preferable to the all-around lame-O-ness of Governor Pataki, who brings all the liberal politics of, but none of the successes of, none of the character of, and none of the matrimonial difficulty of Giuliani. Actually, Jeb’s looking better all the time.
11 hours ago
2 comments:
I'll be 34 years old by the 2008 election. If Jeb is the Republican nominee, then it will be the ninth straight time someone named Dole or Bush will have been on the Republican ticket. That's every single presidential election since I was born, and I'm old enough to remember the Bicentennial.
If that is not monarchism, what is it? Monarchies and the mafia are the only organizations that defer as thoroughly as the Republican Party to family ties when selecting leaders. Do Republicans look at countries like Syria and North Korea and exclaim, "I say, old chum, now there is a nation that knows what's what, and no error!"
John McCain, who at every turn since 2000 has shown that he would have been a truly great president, probably better than Truman and certainly better than Bush, will be too old. Rudy is too, well, Rudy, and if he ran people would start to remember why pretty much everyone hated him on Sept. 10, 2001.
The Republican to watch out for is Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota. He speaks well, looks good, takes mainstream stands on the issues (something increasingly rare among elected Republicans), used to be a Democrat, and is a loyal Bush supporter who will play well in the Midwest, Northeast, and probably the Northwest. Oh, and he has one important thing in common with Reagan: He's whupped Walter Mondale. That oughta count for something.
As to Mr Anon on top of this. I think the only thing McCain has proved in the last 4 years is how much of a media whore he is (I say that and I kinda like him).
Norm Coleman? Dude, I know he wa sa mayor at some point, but senators never get to be POTUS in mondern times, because you need to show some executive experience and senators like to droneeeeeee on and on and well I digress. With the expcetion of his last name, Jeb would probably be the best candidate and would win hands down.
Buder@knology.net
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