If not Biden then Who?

With the loss of Joe Biden and Chris Dodd in the Iowa caucus comes a fairly large dilemma for those of us in the rest of the nation that have yet to vote. As Democrat’s who in the hell do we have left now that Iowans decided that Biden and Dodd are not worthy of the Presidency. With both of them dropping out of the race and I’m sure that Bill Richardson will be throwing in the towel soon enough, our choices will be somewhat limited.

When looking at the remaining top contenders and considering what all of the polls are predicting it does not bode well for the Democrat’s that simply do not care for Hillary Clinton. Having voted for her husband twice I am guilty of being a Clinton Democrat but not a large Hillary Clinton supporter. Public speaking is not her forte but that is not a true measure of any candidate but it helps one hell of a lot. Inspiration is not something she excels at when it comes to even the debates. It’s by no means that I think that she would not make a great President, she probably would, I simply do not see it happening for her. Realistically, I can not see Hillary Clinton beating Huckabee, McCain or Romney in the general election and that is something that has to be considered.

I’ve looked at John Edwards and the possibility of supporting him and yet I can not get past a response he gave to a teenager asking him a question in the last election. This young girl that was probably about fifteen or sixteen asked him a direct question about nuclear weapons and if he would engage nations around the world to abolish them. John Edwards went into trial lawyer double speak mode and worked all the way around the question and never answered the question. He did however autograph a note book for her. Afterward, the young girl was asked if her question was answered by the camera crew and she told it like it is. He’s a good politician, knows a lot of facts but he did not answer my question. Sometimes a fifteen year old is smarter than most adults.

Could Edwards beat the nasty threesome from the Republican field? Highly unlikely. I tend to think that he really does not have the heart for the nastiness that is national politics and the crowd over on the right will never be ashamed to slam you no matter how clean of a campaign you personally run. It is the nature of the beast.

That leaves us with Barack Obama, the Senator from Illinois. Now that I am no longer allowed to be hooked on Biden and had to go cold turkey off my Jones, I will be looking at his candidacy a little more closely. According to some reports he has the younger generations actually interested in what is going on in politics in America again. That is something not done since the days of JFK but make no mistake he is not JFK. Just being able to get the younger generations to participate and vote is amazing in itself. Having heard that he is the rock star of the Democratic field of candidates is rather intriguing as well but that alone does not qualify you to be President.

Something is different about Barack Obama’s style and the way that he speaks to the crowds of enthusiast that seem to show up no matter where he goes. Maybe his message of change is something to grab onto and hope that it is in fact possible. Obama reminds me a little about our current Governor in Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, who just happens to be an African American, who ran his political campaign on hope and “Together we can” which I supported and voted for in the election. Many of Governor Patrick’s detractors were hell bent on the fact that the people of the Bay State would never elect a black man as Governor and they were dead wrong. And now that same mentality is popping up all over the nation whenever Barack Obama’s name is mentioned.

Are we voting for the color of a persons skin or their position on the issues we feel strongest about? Basing our choice for any political office where true leadership is required, I would tend to think that the majority of people would opt for the later. Now more than ever our nation needs change and if the only person offering true change happens to be a black man from Illinois then that is the path to choose.

Winning Iowa is not a guarantee that the race in New Hampshire will draw the same conclusion. With an Iowa bounce many candidates in the past have soared in the Granite State election and others have tanked. Then again, the amount of coverage the local media is giving Senator Obama is surely a good indicator that if he does not finish first then it will be a close second.

One other thought to this process we call electing a President is that the previous couple of occupants of the White House have all been elected by people above the age of thirty five and that seems to have led to a division of the masses. Maybe the younger generation can see the whole environment of the forest and not just a bunch of trees.

I’m off with my marker pen to edit all of my “Joe is Right!” signs and bumper stickers. “Change is Right” seems to sound more appropriate for the task at hand that we ALL like to call America.
Papamoka

Cross posted at Bring It ON! and Michael Linn Jones

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