Presidential Primaries

Its presidential primary season and looks to be interesting. There's no New England Patriots at this point in the process (John Edwards has just this second observed that only one half of of one percent of Americans have made their opinion known), in spite of the fact that the New Hampshire votes are currently being counted. John McCain won the Republican race big time, but the Democratic one remains too close to call...yet. Hillary Clinton has maintained a 2 to 4 point lead for most of the evening and will likely hold on to it. Iraq Osama, er......I mean Barack Obama, who won the first "caucus" in Iowa, will finish second.

So, never mind who's going to win, who do I want to win? Conventional wisdom holds that the Republicans have a snowball's chance in hell of taking the White House in 08', an opinion I am inclined to agree with. As such, much of the focus has been on the Democratic race and, in specific, the duel as between Clinton and Obama. Clinton, the establishment favourite and outright favourite for at least the past year, has lost a lot of ground to the upstart, Obama. And, indeed, she seemed shocked at her loss to him in the Iowa Caucuses earlier this month. I think she's been panicking; she's been more shrill than she's ever been the past few days and I'm certain she feigned tears earlier this week when she was being maudlin about why she is in the race. I'm sure fake tears come easy to Hillary; she need only remind herself that she's still married to Bill.

I don't like Hillary and never have. And I have had it with people who suggest, ad nauseum that she's a "smart" woman, as if that's the only criteria needed to be a President. You can be smart and evil at the same time (not that I'm suggesting that Hillary, herself, is evil). And I don't subscribe to the view that Hillary is the best candidate for the job, because its high time we had a woman. I think we could have a much better woman than Hillary. I sure hope so.

As much as I continue to lean towards the Republicans, in particular a moderate one like Rudy Giuliani, I think I could live with Obama. Short on policy though he may be, I like his message of inclusiveness and bi-partisanship. I don't see him as the arechetype liberal, pro-union, protectionist, a la Howard Dean or Richard Gephardt. Those types really scare me.

I would very much like to see a moderate Republican win the White House, but I guess Ronald Reagan is long gone. Don't laugh; Reagan may have been a military hawk, but he was NEVER beholden to the Christian right, unlike the incumbent. As such, my vote goes to Rudy Giuliani. John McCain, in my humble opinion, is just a little too old and bland. I appreciate his record of military service, but I don't think he's what is needed to inspire a war-weary country that's about to head into a recession. Everybody loves Rudy for the role he played as "lame duck" mayor during the aftermath of 9/11. However, he may hold just a little too much baggage in other areas, personal life included, to make a serious run at the White House. And he got absolutely trounced in New Hampshire.

As such, if it has to be a Democrat, and history and the current political climate suggests that this may be the inevitable, I guess I can live with Obama....

Unless Rudy can pull off a New York miracle!!! (oh...I guess the actual expression is "New York Minute").