HUH?

What the heck? We are a year and a half away from the 2008
presidential election, yet we have already had our first debate.
Eight Democratic hopefuls for the White House took part in an
event held in South Carolina last night. It turned out to be a
fairly ho-hum gathering, as most naturally bashed the war in
Iraq. The surprise of the debate was a little known ex-senator
from Alaska, Mike Gravel. According to CNN pundits, he shook
up the stage more than once, at one point calling the U.S. "the
greatest violater of the non-proliferation treaty". (The 1968
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which the U.S. has signed,
calls for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, disarmament,
and the peaceful use of nuclear energy.) The atmosphere, for the
most part, however, was cordial; no one came out ahead or
damaged. What I simply don't get is how early all these candidates
declared their intentions, and, subsequently, how soon, before
even the first caucus or primary, a debate was held. I have
followed American politics for over 20 years, and I just don't
remember witnessing such a circus, especially a year and a half
before actually going to the polls. The danger of this is that most
folks are going to be fed up with all the politicians over this long
stretch of time. The result could be even more apathy from the
American public. I would like to believe the opposite will happen,
that folks will be forced to become more politically aware and
active. However, Americans do not have the best track record
when it comes to politics and voting; commentators gush when
voter turnout percentages for an election go over 50%. But
basically, that means about 1/2 of all Americans could care less -
if they cared, they would get out and vote. Personally, I have
never missed a vote; I became a registered voter immediately
after turning 18. Even when I lived overseas, I would go to the
American embassy and vote by absentee ballot. But clearly not
all folks are quite as dedicated. Oh well, I guess time will tell,
after all, we have plenty of it before Nov. 2008!

Politics are funny

Having a hard time keeping up with all the various goings on. I mean,
first the astronaut love triangle, then Anne Nicole Smith buying the
farm, different politicos jumping into the 2008 presidential race almost
daily - what to do!?! Just a couple weeks after Hillary Clinton announced
she was running for prez - to the surprise of NO ONE (wait, wasn't she
already president before, I mean, she kind of was, Billy boy was rather
busy if you know what I mean!), Barack Obama has tossed his hat into
the political ring. Thus the Democratic party is setting itself up to try
to elect either the first woman or first African-American president. I
would welcome either eventually, sooner rather than later, but NOT
with these 2 candidates as choices. Have people forgotten all the various
scandals of the Clinton presidency, and I don't mean Monicagate - let's
see - Whitewater, the travel agency thing, Hillary's talent for turning
junk stocks into 6 figure gains (and they sent little ole Martha Stewart
to prison for insider trading), and more. The fact that the Clinton's
were teflon snakes, able to slither away untouched from everything, is
still unfathomable to me. At least the junior senator from Illinois does
not have any scandal attached to him, but then again, he hasn't been
around that long...I mean, like maybe 2 months? Ok, he was elected to
the U.S. Senate in 2004, after serving in the Illinois state senate. How
on earth did someone who has had very little political experience on the
national level capture the attention of so many people so fast? He may
simply be the fresh face people are looking for; indeed, he has struck
many folks as being a decent fellow. But this meteoric rise coupled with
such a lacking political background just seems rather odd. I do want to
bring up the point that Obama is from Illinois, the state where Chicago
is, home of some of American history's greatest political machines and
scandals. I don't want to think that Obama is being backed and propped
up by one of these notoriously shady enterprises. No, let's not think that,
but his coming out of nowhere so quickly is rather striking. And we are
still 21 months away from the 2008 presidential election! I see all kinds
of political fun and games on the horizon!