Thoughts on the election of 2008
It's hard to believe, but we're moving into a Presidential election cycle. Even though we're 2+ years away, the circling has begun and for the first time in many, many years, both parties are open.
The next president will take office and will be handed more half-ass problems than any other one that I can remember. Unless things change pretty dramatically before November 2008, he/she can expect to be forced to deal with:
- A worsening economy with measurable inflation and interest rates north of 7.5%
- An unextractable presence in Iraq. If we leave, it collapses and the resulting crater will suck in much of the Mid-East
- The likelihood of reinstituting the draft. The Reserves and National Guard have been overextended. Active Duty retention is poor.
- The necessity of shepharding a military buildup. We're almost out of bullets and bombs, armor and artillery. The stealth bomber is being retired this year with no replacement in site.
- A deeply cynical, divided populace. George Bush is the worst President in modern times. He will be remembered as the Great Divider. Rather than pulling us together after 9/11, he opportunistically took advantage of our fear and scared us into going along with every preset agenda item that he had. This raises the bar on the next president, who will have to be an uncommonly straight shooter or we will tune him out.
- A growing Hispanic population that is threatening to overwhelm our monolingual government service capabilities as well as trigger off waves of violent, immigration-phobic vigilanteism. I live in Herndon, Virginia, an affluent Washington, D.C. suburbs and this is our number one issue right now.
We should pick our next President based on strength of character, not pretty words. The rippling identity crisis, first triggered by the fall of the Iron Curtain is shaking us today. What will our country be, in this new world? Will we be the Democratic Avenger, swooping in to every corner of the oil-rich world, delivering our brand of capitalism and riding the jailed dissenters like donkeys? Will we become isolationist, cutting back on immigration, discouraging tourism, adopting and cultivating our own pursuits, a hermit in the global village?
The problems listed above are excellent subjects for Internet debate. Even if they get short shrift from risk-adverse campaigns, they can and will be debated by the electorate on blogs.
We, as Americans, have two years to think about this election and we must choose wisely. The way that we vote for our national leaders sometimes makes it difficult for us to express our concerns and desires by voting. Many of us live in states that are so late in the primary cycle that we're essentially given one candidate to consider by the time that it comes to us.
This is the advantage of the Internet. Cutting through the Gordian Knot that is the American political process and making our voices heard, regardless of the electoral college, the conventions and coverage by big media.
In the 2008 election, the Internet will be the kingmaker.
Posted on March 24, 2006