Athat’s Primary… Primary



It’s hard to believe that what sounded like it would go on forever, is rapidly approaching the finish line.

Less than a month is all we have left to either celebrate our candidate or cry our eyes out.

It may be time to ask whether we’ve done all it was possible to do to help our candidate. Or we might even go into a period of self doubt where we review and review our decisions ad nauseam. Either way, the deed is nearly done; the cast of characters all but decided.

Nevertheless, like the Greek play, there is always the possibility of a last minute bit of information, a charge by one candidate against another, or a late-breaking story that can change our perceptions on a dime and make it a whole new ball game.

And there is always the hint of some star in the wings waiting to become the deux ex machina of Primary Day 2007.

In lieu of that, we may want to review the field of candidates trying to dope out who the real finalists are despite the wisdom of the polls.

Yes, it looks like both Obama and Huckerbee at this particular point in time are the leading lights in each party; but only by the slimmest of margins—the margin of error in most cases.

The biggest question mark facing each party is whether these two will emerge as the principle contenders or that perhaps one or both might fall to the onslaught that typically assails front runners i.e. Howard Dean’s unfortunate experience when he was unbelievably toppled by his un-presidential sounding scream.

What will happen come January?

Clearly, the pundits agree that it would be hard to gain traction if you are not among the top three candidates in your party in the first three rounds—i.e. Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

For Hillary, Iowa was a wild card to begin with. Edwards had been spending time there for years since the 2004 election. And Obama has worked the Iowa crowds for some months and had the additional advantage of having lived next store.
No question, in much the same way Mitt Romney stands to benefit in New Hampshire as a result of his being Governor in neighboring state, Massachusetts.

McCain also did well there four years ago for his straight talk that voters still remember. And he might be the surprise de jour. Or it could be Ron Paul who seems to have come from out of nowhere to discuss his platform that has seemed to ignite the Internet crowd—a libertarian who wants to see an end to taxes and government!

If the results turn out to be a mixed bag, it’s anyone’s guess who is going to emerge from the spotlight since Rudy’s chances seem to have been sliding since the revelations about his fall from honor regarding his Hampton antics and saddling the police with watch dog responsibilities. .

It seems that the only the Governor from Arkansas and the Senator from Illinois are emerging relatively unscathed but even they are starting to attract the flack that accompanies front runner status.

For the Governor, it had to do with things like accepting gifts while in office or furloughing know criminals who went out to commit crimes again. For Obama, it was his ambitions to be president while he was in the womb and some silly nonsense about his drug use as a kid.

This kind of stuff may not stick to either but it shows the climate of desperation that suffuses the last days leading up to the Primary.

And when it is all over, the winner gets the opportunity to face off against his or her opponent and go over the same territory for another eight or ten months ‘til the election with lots of mud-slinging and all the rest.

If anyone thought that the Triathlon was demanding, someone should try running for president from the very beginning. All of this to take on a job that is totally thankless and not respected by the vast majority of people.

Clearly, some one who joins the race as sport must have nerves of steel and a cast iron ego. Some might even say that if a psychiatric test for president was a requirement, no one would pass….

And in some odd way, that makes sense to me.

In the meantime, the rest of us can’t wait to see the lions devour the Christians or vice versa….





Les Aaron
The Armchair Curmudgeon
For the Committee for Positive Change