Presidential suite

Talk radio and cable network news killed the zeal of presidential politics. Once, there was a time when people could freely trade half-baked ideas about candidates over a few beers. Then came the Rush Limbaughs, the Wolf Blitzers and a veritable cornucopia of call-in lines, live chat programs, all-day, all-night, all-year-long in-your-face coverage that has made discussing presidential elections a bit of a bore at the very least; a brain-cramping, unnerving simulation of schizophrenic psychosis at best.

Today, everyone has an opinion on the so-called race, but few can actually lay claim to them being unique in the classic sense of the term. Discussions are often limited to the hackneyed sound bite-centric babble puked out by the network punditry; many of who take their barking orders from party bosses to begin with. Hence why presidential politics is seldom discussed here at iSaratoga; a focal point for the local politics that are so frequently ignored by the pseudo-intellectuals that think an education in the big game can be garnered from a few late night trysts with CSPAN. The brand of reader here is the type that might wear brass knuckles and carry a flask of tequila to their local party meeting; the type of freak who forgot which channel to flip to for CNN, but can fire off the names of all the party candidates they plan to support during the ‘off-year’ elections.

This isn’t to say presidential politics should be ignored; rather it shouldn’t be dumbed down and hyper-diluted to the extent that it is among nearly every main-stream media source and even many of the local ones. Presidential politics is a meth-fueled high-speed chase that weaves through bumper-to-bumper traffic during rush hour; it’s the big dance, the major leagues; the wall every rookie swings for, but only a few clear. And it’s not something that Limbaugh or Blitzer can’t simplify for those who lack a basic understanding of the players selected every four years.

Take for instance the Trojan horse play that has just about sank any hope of a Republican three-peat this fall. Sure, the pundits point to narrowing polls as evidence that Republican Sen. John McCain might just pull a victory out from beneath one of his chins. But the fact of the matter is he’s done, finished by a drastic miscalculation by the right wing.

As the Democratic front-runners shook out in January, the right wing had already made its choice for their nominee: Hilary Clinton. Marching orders were distributed and the AM talk hosts attacked, much like they had during the prior two elections. Clinton very quickly became a rallying cry as the Republicans struggled with an identity crisis of their own. The Ron Paul schism took nearly all of the fanfare away from their early front runners, so they focused on the New York senator. Pretty soon, the very centrist Clinton was emblematic of the liberal far-left; the dubious socialist plot to reclaim to White House and raise taxes.

However, it was Barack Obama found his stock rising rapidly in the early caucuses and primaries. He offered voters a fresh young face that wielded passion in his voice with each speech. Pretty soon, he was amassing a chest of delegates to rival Clinton’s. But the Republican mouthpieces didn’t budge from their stance. They salted the earth of Clinton’s wilting campaign, pounding it mercilessly right up until the senator conceded the nomination to Obama in June.

Even in the days that followed, some speculated that the power-hungry Clintons might arrive in Denver with a vendetta to settle with presumptive nominee. Some speculated that a schism might form and that independent and centrist-riding Clinton supporters might flock to McCain’s camp in revolt. On the airwaves, the hatchet-wielders were scrambling for any sort of issue they could peg on Obama that might again mobilize the Christian evangelical pall bearers of the Bush presidency; an idea that is simply too late in the making come the dying days of August.

McCain’s last hope was that Clinton might pluck the knife from his chest and take a swing at Obama. Instead, she plunged it deeper and started twisting. When Clinton reached the National Convention podium late Tuesday evening, she didn’t take long to quash any thought that she might be Denver’s Richard Daley-sized party spoiler. Though delegates on the floor still waved white Clinton placards during the inception of her speech, they were replaced by the blue ‘unity’ signs by the end.

Certainly, there was some back-room politicking to get Clinton’s concession. But when that politicking took place will be something for history buffs to determine. Allow this humble author to proffer that her decision to abandon the run came long before her late-spring announcement.

In waiting until the last minute –a move many brain-dead pundits figured as the death knell for party unity –she served as the perfect flak jacket for the one candidate that stood an inkling of a chance at bridging the Democratic divide forged between the larger collective of moderates and the very vocal far-left flank. Even the selection of Delaware Sen. Joe Biden on Saturday was timed so that the pundits would have only a split second during a busy summer weekend to amass the battle munitions needed to mount vocal opposition.

On a side note, you would think the local bush-league Democrats could learn a thing or two from their big league counterparts. The idea of unity seems so foreign for a band of hapless hacks led by Shawn Thompson and aligning themselves under the moniker Democrats For Change. In fact, party unity seems to be exactly what these folks stand against considering their Nixonian “opponents" list.

No doubt, Obama’s camp will pay for Clinton bowing out. Just think, if it takes $125,000 just to get her husband to show up for dinner, how much will it cost to have his wife take a dive for the good of the party? Here’s a hint: a high-level cabinet position, Supreme Court nomination, or ceding the island of Guam to the Clinton family; or perhaps a future senator’s seat in New York for her number-one booster on the campaign trail this year.

So fasten your seatbelts folks, because this ride is going to juke and jive while speeding over the next two months. Keep your eyes on the road because the turns are quick, the space is tight and the driver of this hurtling beast might not be in the mental state for thinking anywhere inside the box.