I may eat my words in November, but I think John Kerry has a chance of winning the presidency. Knocking on wood, crossing my fingers, saying a prayer to the patron saint of middle-class America.
True, Kerry isn’t even the official democratic candidate yet, but barring some skeleton in his closet we don’t know about (a la Gary Hart), I think it’s a given he’s our man. And, listening to him speak, I think he has a shot. He has… presence. We need a president with presence. A president who can stand alone and not look like a little boy lost in the women’s department at Sears. A president who doesn’t throw like a girl.
Please, Mr. Kerry, don’t let us find out about your fondness for lap dances from girls named Amber or about the late night visits to the Psychic Chicken to seek advice on your policies until after you’re in office, okay? The American people need you, now more than ever. Please don’t screw it up.
There is a theory about the upcoming presidential election and I have strong, mixed emotions about it. The theory says that the Democrats are basically going to concede the 2004 election and let George W. have four more years in the White House so that Hillary can run in 2008 and have a good shot at winning.
For the record, I would vote for Hillary. I would vote for almost any woman who ran for president (yes, even if she was running as a Republican) for the simple fact that I believe we need to set the precedent of getting a woman in the White House. Elect a woman president and then we�ll argue about the politics of the thing. We are long past due for female leadership in this country, beyond governorship, beyond Congress, beyond the cabinet. Currently, women hold 13.6% of the seats in Congress. This is absurd. We need more women in the political pipeline and we need to get a woman in the White House. So, yes, I�d vote for almost any woman (and I say �almost� simply to protect myself in the event a female version of Al Sharpton or Ross Perot makes an appearance).
On the other hand, I don�t think paving the way for Hillary in 2008 is necessarily the best thing for the country over the next four years. True, Hillary won�t have much of a chance against a sitting (male) Democratic president in 2008. Whether she�d be up for the challenge in 2012 is debatable. True, it might be another eight or twelve years before another woman comes along who will have the political background and clout to take on the big boys. But while my feminist nature is strongly in favor of getting a woman in the White House as soon as possible, my gut instinct says we need to get Bush out now and worry about setting precedents when the political climate isn�t so dire.
Normally, I�m a long-term thinker. Do what you have to do today in order to protect the future. In this case, I can�t help but wonder what four more years of Bush will do to this country, and that�s both from a short-term and a long-term perspective. So, while I�m all for having Hillary for president, I am rabidly against four more years of Bush as a means to an end.
Reasons John Kerry is better than George Bush:
--Despite being born in Colorado, John has spent most of his life in Massachusetts and has a little of the Kennedy flair. Kennedy… Kerry… If you squint, you can almost believe he’s a distant cousin.
--John is a decorated Navy veteran with a Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. George spent his military time hanging out in the Texas Air National Guard as a F-102 fighter pilot (um… if he was in Texas, should we really use the word “fighter?").
--John has been in politics since 1982, serving as a Lieutentant Governor and a four term Senator. He co-founded Vietnam Veterans for America and was a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. George was the managing general partner of the Texas Rangers.
--John can pronounce big words. George cannot pronounce nuclear.
If George Bush gets re-elected, I’m moving to London. Any and all are welcome to join me. We’ll rent a large flat and hang out in coffee shops talking about silly American politics. We’ll become ex-pats and adopt British accents. We’ll shop at Harvey Nicks and take the tube everywhere we go.
It wouldn’t be much of a hardship to spend four years in London. There’s a Starbucks on every corner, American products in all the stores, excellent news coverage on the BBC and the royal family for entertainment value when we get tired of the museums, historical landmarks, nightclubs and theater. Best of all, there’s Tony Blair, who is articulate, intelligent and can pronounce big words like nuclear without looking like a deer in headlights.
So, who’s with me?
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