The Presidential Election, 2008

I believe the three remaining candidates for U.S. President (as of this writing) cannot and will not solve the problems facing the country. What are those problems? First and foremost, a greedy, jaded, selfish population unwilling to give up anything, even when required for future personal and national survival. It is only with a gun at the head that any concession is made. Second, there are too many people and, third, not enough resources. Those problems, taken together with intellectual laziness, are always a fatal concoction.

Of the major party candidates, Sen. Barak Obama comes closest to recognizing the problems, but he is just as beholden to "the system" as Sen. Hilary Clinton and Sen. John McCain. Least concerned about the problems is Sen. Clinton, who I believe is singularly consumed by her ambition. Sen. McCain has a different, reactionary view of the United States steeped in that Imperialist disguise, American exceptionalism. Whichever candidate is elected next November, the pervasive and cumulatively immense forces of the American Empire will enforce themselves on the President, the Congress and all the other government officials. Short of a miraculous Paulist conversion, and an almost unprecedented will to make changes, History will continue in its present course.

History was almost changed during the 1960s, when the country was in a revolutionary ferment signified by widespread social disorders. But, in time, with a few bullets and many whacks, the agents of law and order prevailed. The dominant racist, sexist, Imperialist culture was challenged and dented, but not overthrown. Similarly, a severe crisis of the Capitalist economy in the 1930s - the Great Depression - failed to remove the established order or its ideology. A few concessions were made to the impoverished and struggling masses in Roosevelt's New Deal, but, fifty years later, both Republicans and Democrats were busy stripping off the bandages from still bleeding flesh. More than ever, the Capitalist ideology is ubiquitous, spread everyday and everywhere by private and public propagandists.

Presently, there is no revolutionary or evolutionary ferment visible in the general population. The economy may be failing, but there is not the universal will to fix it. There isn't even an impetus to expand or extend unemployment benefits. The majority of United States' residents, and certainly the majority that elects government officials, is not interested in what happens to unfortunate others, even as it selfishly demands continued delivery of pork to its doors. Thus, the next President won't have the required mandate or support to change much of anything. In short, there is no national will to solve the problems.

If Sen. McCain is elected, most of the major problems facing the United States will continue unabated, progressing just as they do now. Perhaps he will have the courage to face down the U.S. automobile and oil industries on behalf of the alternative energy industries. If Sen. Clinton is elected, I would expect no more change than Sen. McCain might implement; i.e., there is little difference between them. Even the war in Iraq would continue indefinitely according to Sen. McCain's plan. In evaluating Sen. Clinton's intentions in Iraq, it is very important to hear her words, spoken sotto voce: she would withdraw the troops when the time is right. Sen. Clinton and Sen. McCain echo Pres. Nixon's goal for America in Vietnam: 'Peace with Honor.' History shows such a declaration amounts to insistence on a victorious conclusion, which is just what  Sen. McCain intends. At least he presents himself honestly.

Based on many polls and trial heats, I think Hilary Clinton cannot be elected President. Based on primary election results to date, the only way she will be the Democratic party nominee is by co-opting the so-called "Superdelegates." If Hilary Clinton wins that nomination, it will certainly be a triumph of political manipulation. It will also be the destruction of the national Democratic party for a long time, because the party will be exposed as a corrupt and undemocratic political machine controlled by its elected representatives (the political Establishment). Of course, that is what Conservatives have been saying about the Democratic party for decades. It would be ironic if, in 2008 elections almost preordained to be won by Democrats, the party self-destructs; thus proving its cosmic inability to rule.

Sen. Obama has won Democratic primaries in States Sen. Clinton is unlikely to win next November. Projecting forward, that means Sen. Clinton is likely to win only the States she carried in the primaries, if she is the nominee. Sen. Obama has a shot at winning some of the States he won in Democratic primaries, plus the Clinton  States. On balance, this makes Sen. Obama the strongest challenger to Sen. McCain. (I think Sen. McCain believes the Democratic party will, in the end, act out of a desire for self-preservation by nominating Sen. Obama.)

Right now, I think the game is advantage McCain.

Posted 03/18/2008 10:57:47 AM                Last update: 03/18/2008

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