On presidential politics

Yesterday, John Edwards dropped out of the Democratic race for president. I tried to find a good story to link to about that, but then I figured that if you care, you already read it; if you don't, really all you need to know is that he dropped out.

I have a political science minor and a degree in rhetoric, so I've always been a sucker for presidential politics, which to me are the most interesting kind. And this year, I think the presidential race has finally gotten really, really interesting.

My personal policy is that I don't start paying real attention to the candidates until the primaries are far enough along that all the joke candidates have dropped out. My time is precious, and I do not want to waste it cutting through the clutter of Sam Brownback to find out about John McCain, for example. (The Democratic version of that would be, "cutting through the clutter of Chris Dodd to find out about Barack Obama.")

But now...the Democratic race is down to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and the Republican race (despite the best efforts of Chuck Norris) is pretty much down to John McCain and Mitt Romney. What I find so incredibly wonderful about this is that there WILL BE a woman or an African-American major-party nominee for president this year. And I really think either of them has a good shot at winning. It's hard to explain, but I feel like we're living history right now; someday, my daughter is going to ask me about this very moment in time when she has to write a history report on the 2008 presidential election.

Personally, I'm pulling for an Obama v. McCain campaign, for several reasons. One, I think they are both sort of "Washington outsiders" - Obama because he hasn't worked there very long, and McCain because he chose to be. I think they're both intelligent and dedicated (can't say that about every nominee in my lifetime!), and I would LOVE to see them debate. The contrast of older maverick and younger upstart is really intriguing - there would be real, tangible differences between the candidates. And most of all, right now at least (I do need to do some more research), I feel like the country would not be totally messed up if either of them won.

Don't get me started on Mitt Romney, though. Wow. I want to be clear that it doesn't concern me that he's Mormon. I mean, I don't actually care...whatever religion you are is up to you. But it does concern me that he's...maybe "out of touch" is the nicest thing to say here. If you haven't seen him "relating to the people," well...



I'm just saying...Obama and McCain would make for a really fascinating election. Mitt Romney as the Republican nominee would just sort of make me...sad. (Or happy that the Democrats would have a great chance of actually winning...)