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Opinion Super Delegate to the rescue
Super Delegate to the rescue
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The big blockbuster movie of the summer of 2008 is not “Spiderman does St. Paul” or even “Godzilla eats Denver.” The sites of the upcoming political conventions are not in jeopardy. It’s “Super Delegate to the Rescue.” Yes, for the first time since gas cost 34 cents a gallon and the only man on the moon was made of cheese, the Oregon primary this spring played a role in the race for president. Not since Robert Kennedy campaigned back in Whig Party days — no, really, 1968 — has Oregon played a vital role on the national political scene. Northeast Oregon voters are hyperventilating with excitement. Or maybe they just saw the latest bread and gas prices. Sen. Barack “With friends like these ...” Obama of Illinois campaigned recently in Pendleton. Bill “welfare reform” Clinton campaigned in Pendleton and Baker City on behalf of his wife, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. No one but the gas tanker truck is visiting La Grande. Now that Oregon has voted, in ride the Super-Duper Delegates on ponies that look a like the democratic donkey, except with shorter legs. These extremely important party bigwigs will tell the common folk if we made an intelligent choice, or are idiots like normal. Their job is to make sure the Democratic voters have selected someone with a fighting chance in the general election against Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona. How will they stack up against a war hero who claims the U.S. can win the Iraq war in five more years. Or did he say 100? Those are the questions. Neither a woman nor a black man has been president, and the Super-Duper Delegates must tell us common macaroni-eating folk which scenario is more likely. Come down one way and they’ll be accused of racism. The other and they’ll be accused of sexism. It’s tough duty. The time is ripe for change. The two-term Bush administration is about as popular as sour grapes. High gas prices, an economy in turmoil and a war spinning in circles has made America’s ruling family into pariahs. “The only thing we have to fear,” as President Franklin D. Roosevelt once famously said, “is fear itself.” He may have been talking about the attack ads coming soon to a TV near you. Obama, should he win the primary, will be branded as a gang-loving, revolutionary-endorsing, latte-sipping, I-hate-America-preacher-tolerating radical. And those are the kinder ads. McCain will be branded as a Bush-loving, warmongering, Geritol-swigging, out-of-touch oldster. Hillary’s right-wing enemies, meanwhile, could make their hate ads into a 90-minute documentary. That’s the inconvenient truth. It’s enough to make Howard Dean scream — again. One thing is certain. No matter how the Super-Duper Delegates rule, it’s senator versus senator in the general election, two members of the boondoggle kennels promising to reform America. We’ve heard these noises before. Bill Clinton campaigned on health care reform in 1992 and never got it to a vote. George W. Bush campaigned on Social Security reform in 2000 and 2004 and never got it to a vote. Some voters who are not Super-Duper Delegates, the people who know the superinflation hitting bread and milk prices, are skeptical that America can be reformed under the two-party system. It’s borrow and spend versus tax and spend. The only thing certain is spend. Voters should get out their nonsense detectors and tell Super-Duper Delegates to go fly a kite in a caviar storm. They should turn off the TV attack ads. They should understand the candidates’ stances on the issues and then know if their candidate wins, he or she will likely only successfully pass an issue pre-empted from the other party like Bill Clinton did with welfare reform. Future headlines: • Obama boosts oil drilling. • McCain gets more hybrids in the government fleet. The state of politics today makes one seriously consider becoming the Whig. Reach the author at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . |
