Monday, February 11, 2008

A train wreck in the making

The Democratic Party better watch its proverbial ass in the next few months. The ongoing fight for delegates between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama might hurt both of their chances to occupy the throne.


As many youth engage in their first presidential election (an estimated 17 percent of Cal State Long Beach students voted on Super Tuesday), this voting block leans toward a Democrat. An atmosphere of confusion is needed to draw youth away from the donkey ticket.


With the Republican nod going to John McCain -- due to Mitt Romney’s hastened exit from the race -- President Bush all but told conservatives the campaign focus will be on the war in Iraq. The ultimate conservative goal is to maintain defense spending and investment in the war on terrorism.


The McCain endorsement will piss off the ultra-conservative evangelical backers for Mike Huckabee. Bush’s recommendation is already reverberating in the ranks of neo-con youth voters who will be left to choose between a lesser of two evils; a Democrat or a rebel.


Many to the religious right don’t approve of McCain’s perceived wishy-washiness on Roe v. Wade, which sways the conservative ideology in many southern states to Huckabee’s camp.


Two strategies are implied with Bush’s early backing of McCain. The first is to present a clear-cut candidate so they can focus on campaign strategies earlier. The fact is, Republicans are in trouble and they need the extra time to circle the wagons on key issues.


Secondly, by announcing an ultimate candidate early, the elephants can kick back and watch the donkeys tear each other apart. As Obama and Clinton rip into each other, Republicans will cut and paste selected miscues in their presentations to be used against them at a later debate.


Even though we got an early jump on the election procedure, time is still of the essence. To mount formidable slash and burn attacks, Republicans need this added time element to let the donkeys make asses of themselves.


By allowing the Democrats the extended opportunity to implode, the Republicans stand their best chance of throwing either juggernaut off the tracks.

2 comments:

Dogs and Whistles said...

While I agree that the divisiveness of the Democratic party may cause some disturbances early in the general election, I have yet to see anything that suggests the Republicans will be able to use that to win the Presidency. Not only is the majority of the country anti-Iraq War, but looking at the raw voting data from the primaries reveals that Democrats are beating Republicans in sheer volume of voters, in many states by a 2:1 ratio.

I don't want to make any kind of solid prediction about the outcome of the general election, for fear that it may come back to haunt me, but there is little raw data out there that suggests that the Republicans can muster a win from this, even with a potentially-fractured Democratic electorate. That is, unless they can get Diebold to do some serious vote-hacking nationwide.

Duke Rescola said...

Careful. Diebold's bastard child IBM has been known to perform actual political miracles in daddy's name.


Some have exclaimed to me that the Democratic Party winner will be battle tested rather than battle weary by convention time.


The helicopter T.V.visual of Edwards currying future favor, and vice versa, shows trembling hands already. Smoke screen? Perhaps, but not likely.


The crude in Iraq will represent chump change in the Republican cash register within five months.


Never underestimate the power in clandestine deals when you own the access to negotiation in a presidential election.


Some of the best political wranglers remembered by elephants are hanging their conservative hats on manufacturing a method to have the boy-king continue the family legacy of having a library in his name.

Whether battle tested or battle weary, Barack and Hillary will tragically split that 2:1 ratio into less than thirds if one doesn't nail it down soon. Insomnia and anger will kick in.


Then strategy will take over and it won't be pretty. It'll be about sex, drugs, money and war. I think I'll start writing my screen play now.

Besides, McCain is already used to taking naps.