As we eagerly anticipate February 5th, "Super Tuesday", 26 states will hold caucuses or primaries. Isitjustme is dreading February 6th, "Just Kill Me" Wednesday when the collective intelligence of my fellow Americans will be visible to the world. Nothing in the primary process thus far has led me to believe that our choices for candidates in 2008 will reflect much credit on our National IQ.
This was supposed to be the "anybody but George" election. This was to be "Listerine" vote where we wash the bad taste of the last eight years from our collective mouths. This was to be the monent when we said to the world, "We don't know what we were thinking in 2000 & 2004 but, seriously, we're over it."
Instead, we are traveling down the same road that brought us George the Lesser.
Have you ever wondered why all of the great democracies of the world have adopted the British system of government instead of ours? Countries like India, France, Greece, Denmark and Burkina Faso all have modeled their governing process after the parliamentary structure. Many of these governments were relics of the British Empire but all have maintained the system. Could it be that most countries see the wisdom of electing their leaders from the most experienced members of the legislature? Before you get to be Prime Minister, you learn your trade on the back bench. You gain experience as part of a governing process and, if you show skill as a leader, negotiator, consensus-builder and compromiser, you move up the ladder. Charisma helps but so does gravitas. Hell, we choose NFL head coaches with more care.
America has shown a particular disdain for experience. We haven't elected a senator to the presidency since Jack Kennedy. George H.W. Bush (George the Greater) was awash in experience but it was hardly the deciding factor in his election. Our curricula vitae for presidents have included: a peanut farmer, an actor, a frat boy baseball team owner and a man who never held a private sector job.
These men were all governors with zero understanding of foreign policy. Reading the New York Times (or in GWB's case, Sports Illustrated) hardly fills the gap. Being elected governor of Arkansas doesn't even qualify you to run Arkansas. By the time these guys get the hang of running the country, their first term is practically over. I know. FDR was governor of New York and Lincoln was a just country lawyer but even blind squirrels find nuts occasionally.
The experience wonks in this election are: John McCain, period. Hillary doesn't get points for being First Lady. I'm sorry but being in the pit crew just isn't the same as driving the car. The two other candidates with real chops were Chris Dodd and Joe Biden. Both were swept away faster than you can say New Hampshire Primary. Rudy Guiliani ran one city...one city. (He also ran three marriages; two into the ground.) If Osama has attacked Denver, Rudy's name would be unknown everywhere west of Newark.
Note: Why does everyone laugh when Dennis Kucinich says he saw a UFO but no one laughs when Mike Huckabee says he doesn't believe in evolution?
The American presidential process is "all sizzle, no steak". (Or in GWB's case, "All hat, no cattle"). With the exception of John McCain, none of the front runners is qualified to be president today. (George W. Bush has been in the job for seven years and he's still not qualified.)
People should define the issues that a president will face and elect the person best able to meet those challenges. If we don't we should be prepared for another Texas lightweight or a president who has spent so much time on his knees that it has become a habit.
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