Posted by
Dan Abbett on Sunday, October 26, 2008 11:06:35 AM
As the eve of the election for the next President of the United States draws near, those of us who pen our thoughts on all things political must now await the final decision of the people. It has not been easy to remain positive, objective to the extent possible and enthusiastic about this race if your politics are conservative. We have watched without much influence as a media with a political agenda and a well-funded opposition machine dominated the conversation.
Between a media determination to savage the real contenders and the determined stubbornness of the Republican Party to push the next guy in line, we wound up with John McCain as our nominee. Many view Sen. McCain as the successor to Bob Dole, another candidate of Republican Lineage that has little chance of winning. It didn’t help that so-called Conservative Beltway Pundits, entrenched in the elitist sewer that is Washington politics, championed Sen. McCain as the man to beat in November.
None of this is in any way intended to diminish or disparage John McCain; it is just an honest assessment of the lack of vision and fighting spirit that has all but eliminated the Republican Party as formidable political opponent.
On the other side of the aisle, we marveled as a near complete unknown bested the heir apparent for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton. It was vogue at the time to praise young Barack Obama and declare how racially evolved we had become to cheer this “Black” candidate’s campaign against the unstoppable Clinton machine. It would have served us well at the time to be less enamored with our need to demonstrate our racially transparent credentials and been more focused on Obama’s qualifications, history and political ideology.
So here we stand. On one side, an untested and unknown figure who has fallen for his own campaign rhetoric and believes himself to be akin to a messiah. On the other side, we have a tested but tired old warrior and a question mark as to his loyalty to the conservative principles he claims he stands for.
The race has essentially come down to a man with a lot of experience in an elected body that achieves little and a man with little experience in that same body that has achieved almost nothing. Viewing it in that perspective, it is alarming to near panic that the latter stands the better chance of winning the election. When the people of this nation have so little regard as to the character, experience, record and history of the man who will lead them, a disturbing milestone has been reached.
Is this really the best America has to offer in the qualifications, vision, leadership skills and understanding as to how best to move this nation forward? More importantly, have we arrived as a people, that we are willing to accept the tokens of leadership offered to the masses by an elitist few and those who will benefit as their sponsors?
There are two components to our present condition. One is the class of people who still believe in the American dream of achieving prosperity as a function of their ambition and determination. The other component consists of those who believe they are due a portion of the achiever’s prosperity, regardless of their contribution. Some refer to this as class warfare. It should be more appropriately regarded as liberal politics. The choice America makes on Election Day will be an indicator as to which component will dominate our political culture.
It would be easy to launch into partisan rhetoric at this point and tout the talking points, charges and accusations against Barack Obama and the Democratic Party. This election is less a reflection on a political party that is determined to obtain absolute power by any means however, than on a people who have become so disengaged as to permit it.