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When Fools Fall In
Line
How’s a guy going to
convince voters that he can defeat terrorism when he’s afraid to face a
talking snowman?
The Democratic
presidential debate on CNN might have been a publicity stunt, but it was
a hell of a publicity stunt. CNN pimped it mercilessly and it was the
first debate that a lot of people paid any attention to. And it was
good theater. Political debates tend to be fairly dry affairs, which is
why the occasional “You are no John Kennedy!” or “I paid for this
microphone!” exclamations become iconic. At a cocktail party, they
would be boorish. In a presidential debate, they are Bartlett’s.
But the “U-Tube debate”
was interesting enough, new enough, and quirky enough to energize a
presidential campaign born too soon and unwelcome to the electorate. It
had the potential to draw from the cable television audience, the
Internet, and the blogosphere. If it resonated with all three cohorts,
the ratings might not show the impact but the culture would. It’s a
golden opportunity and only a fool would let it slip by. A good
impression in an event like that, the first meaningful media-heavy
debate in the campaign to date, could send ripples through various
levels of media. Only a fool would eschew that kind of opportunity.
Hillary Clinton, not a
fool, waited for the most visible political debate of the early season
to run Barack Obama off the track into the political infield, where he
has been helplessly spinning ever since. Obama is pissed at being
dissed by Clinton and subsequently took it out on Pervez Musharraf.
Actually, I’ve been waiting for a prominent American politician to lift
a leg on Musharraf for some time now, but I hadn’t expected Obama to
play the Dalmatian.
Obama initially
declared, during the U-Tube debate, that he would be willing to talk to
leaders of nations who express hostile intent toward the United States.
Then, after being publicly Hillaried, he declared that he would invade
Pakistan, an ally, whether Musharraf wanted it or not and chase down and
get bin Laden. It’s not often that a guy plays “good cop, bad cop” with
himself. That usually takes two. John Edwards speaks of “two
Americas.” Who knew there were two Obamas? Would we find it comforting
if Obama declared that he would talk to himself?
Obama recently
renounced the use of nuclear weapons then said, “let me scratch that.”
Earth to Barack:
During a presidential campaign, unless “let me scratch that” refers to
the back of a close friend or loved one, it’s on the record. You’re
running for President, Barack. There’re no do-over’s.
Enough of Obama. He
had a nice run. This column is about the Republican presidential
candidates, the ones who have better things to do than demonstrate their
presence in the same reality the rest of us share, the Republican
presidential candidates who can’t seem to find any way to work a U-Tube
debate into their schedule (Rudy) or who find the whole thing tasteless
and beneath them (Mitt) or who think a U-Tube debate means they have to
debate each other aboard a submarine (the rest).
The Republican
candidates, except for the entertaining Ron Paul, promise George W. Bush
redux. They all think the disastrous adventure into Iraq was a great
idea, they all want to undercut civil liberties and indulge in expensive
programs that let bureaucrats spy on innocent Americans, and they all
just love the newly starboard-tilting Supreme Court. They all profess
to be tough on terrorism and some want to seal the border and deport
everyone in this country who is here illegally. They kiss the bloated
ass of the religious right and some of them don’t believe in evolution.
And U-Tube scares the hell out of every single one of them.
No wonder Newt
Gingrich, speaking for scores of Republicans, says, “This is it?” You
have probably guessed that the Republican presidential candidates are
the “fools” I was referring to a few paragraphs ago.
Obviously, it’s still
early, and a lot can happen between now and 2008, but the early campaign
season offers the first chance to thin the herd and Hillary Clinton may
have taken out Obama with a subtle pre-emptive strike in the U-Tube
debate, aided by his subsequent self-inflicted deconstruction. You’d
think a Republican candidate would salivate at an opportunity like
that. Only a fool...
Something tells me I’m
going to party like it’s 1992.
© August 3, 2007 by
Mike Tully |
