Happy Thoughts

We had a saying downrange: "Complacency kills."

It was true then, and it's true now. Especially in the realm of politics. We owe our Congressional majority to complacency on the part of the Republican Party (not to mention a list of corruption charges that make the House Appropriations Committee look like an ATM). Given the lessons of the last eight years, I'd not advise us to heed this saying well, but I've been thinking about the Presidential race, and I'd like to share a thought.

The blogosphere: As a whole, we've been pulling out our hair lately because of Hillary and Obama. I understand this, and it frustrates me too. I hear the cries about how we should be focusing on the GOP, and I agree wholeheartedly. Do I see the polls indicating that McCain has a lead on both candidates, and feel just a hint of fear? Sure. "Over the dunes and IEDS, back to the Mideast I go."

But as Gandalf said, "I bring tidings in this dark hour." I'd like to share a vision, if I can.

Picture a Dem candidate... say Obama, because I support him. Different strokes, whatever. NOW, picture the candidate of your choice, having secured the nomination. We have a black man and a woman, each arguing for improvements on the domestic fronts, who argue for better healthcare, for troop reductions in Iraq, and for a host of other wholesome liberal values that we can all get behind, right?

Okay, I've set up the pins. NOW imagine the other guy: John McCain. Pudgy, confused, easily angered: keeps company with George Bush and Joe Lieberman. A guy who obviously knows nothing about the economy, nor foreign policy. A guy who cannot be inoffensive no matter how hard he tries. A guy who openly champions EVERY SINGLE FUCKING policy move of the last eight years--who calls BAGHDAD safe. A guy who, if you might remember, flips out and calls his wife a "cunt," in public, to her face.

Now picture, a few months from now, the first debate. The first BIG debate, nationally televised. Picture, for my sake, Barack Obama, charismatic speaker, diehard liberal, fresh-faced junior senator, against this Grumpy Munchkin. Picture the questions, the responses. And tell me that McCain's fraction of a lead isn't going to just disappear before they get to the first commercial break.

Even Hillary Clinton, as much baggage as comes with that name, is more than strong enough, smart enough, to dance circles around this guy. She'd have him stumbling around like Rocky after going ten rounds with Apollo Creed the first time. She might take some real dingers from the wingnuts in the crowd, but damn it, she'll convince the centrists, I bet.

And Obama? Please. Obama would fucking destroy him.