Democratic Fatigue Syndrome

It is now Year 6 of the Democratic Primary race, and no end in sight.

I say let 'em draw straws and get it over with. Does it really matter at this point? Like every other election I've ever lived through, this one is all about perception now. Not a single fact is at issue. Just image. And the sad thing is that my sense is that it's been that way right from the start of this particular race. John Edwards could not compete with the cult of celebrity surrounding the whole Clinton/Obama face-off. He was forced to drop out without anyone ever discovering what he had to say.

It strikes me that Americans are just obsessed with simplicity. Or perhaps unwilling to deal with complexity. I blame the media for this, and why not? They are handy. That seems to be how we make judgments these days - whatever is simple and close at hand will do. The media holds up that mirror, we see whatever we want to see, and *poof!* there's your answer.

Case in point: Hillary is quite possibly the most hated woman in America. And why is this? No one really knows. Nor are they willing to examine it. They are content to simply hate her and try to make up a "reason" for it as an afterthought. The truth is, it's just a visceral response and it was there from the very first time they put her on the air. Does anyone remember that night? Bill went on the air with Hillary sitting next to him, defending their marriage in the wake of the Gennifer Flowers mess. Hillary came on screen and focus groups all across America turned that dial waaaayyyyyy down. She hadn't uttered a syllable. They just hated her. His campaign strategists were floored. And horrified. And scared. She could sink his campaign merely by the simple fact of her existence. James Carville was screaming "Get her out of there!!!!" from his hotel room. And when they polled the focus groups, they got no substantive answers. So they went into overdrive to soften her image, lighten her hair, thin her eyebrows. They went with paler lipstick, snatched the harsh black hairband off her head. Gave her some bangs. They tried desperately to make it not her fault that her husband strayed.

I have to tell you - I feel the same way about Barbara Bush. Every time I see her face my instinct is to hiss and spit. I try not to hold it against her, but there it is. Well, you aren't going to like everybody. Some folks just rub you the wrong way every time they inhale. Dubya really pisses me off every time he smiles. I mean I just am totally creeped out by that idiotic smile of his. Other people feel differently about him. He makes them want to chummy up to him. And I have to confess that the first word that crossed my mind when Bill Clinton hit the television screens was "smarmy". But I tend to think that those gut reactions are more a matter of my own internal world of experience than any objective reality. Not that I think I'm "wrong" about them - I don't. But I do assume that they are a good deal more complex than my narrow view of them admits. Hate is just far too strong a word for what I feel. So it's not a question of right or wrong; good or bad. Once I've processed that initial response, I want to start searching for somewhat more objective measures to judge their qualifications and attitudes on.

At this point, it feels like it just doesn't matter much anymore. I know that attitude favors Obama, and I'm still far from convinced that he's the better choice. But I've never disliked him. And the fatigue is wearing on me. Mostly because I'm just sooooo sick of watching Anderson Cooper and Keith Olberman display their pathetic little man-crushes every chance they get. It's embarrassing. I know he's sexy. But c'mon. These interviews and commentary start to look like gay porn after a while.

He must have that charisma that Clinton was said to possess. I never met Clinton in person, so I don't know. From where I sat, that charisma looked like a real turn-off. I can't say that I ever "liked" him. I've heard diehard Republicans say that they were instantly overcome by the sheer force of his charm and personality. And this is precisely what worries me. This is no basis for selecting a president. It's just not good enough. I want someone who knows a little something about economics, foreign policy, all that "git 'er done" stuff. J have nothing against good ideas. I just want to see a track record of actual accomplishment, or at the very least a record of actually fighting to accomplish something. I don't care if Hillary is sexy or not. She’s 60 years old, she doesn’t have to be sexy anymore, hmm? I think she's studied the health care issue more extensively and exhaustively than any other human on the planet and she's been asking for universal health care that cuts the profiteering insurance companies out of the loop for many, many years now. She may have lost the battle on the first round, but she never sat down and shut up. She emerged battered and bloody from it, and she’s still in the fight.

But if sexy is what the people want, then fine. Just get it over with and we'll hope that Obama can manage to keep Congress from co-opting his presidency within the first 3 months. I'm betting he can't. If we manage to gain a majority in Congress, there's at least a faint hope. It is not at all a foregone conclusion that a Democratic congressman is a friend to a Democratic president. Not by a longshot. Just have a quick peek at Clinton's presidency for details on that myth. And Clinton was, by unanimous decree, a *very* charismatic president. The sad truth is that this doesn't count for shit down in the trenches of congressional warfare. There is no honor among thieves. Vis-a-vis a new president, those guys are all natural allies. A new administration is up against the wall if it gets into a fight with them.

So hey - I say let him have at it if it means we can be spared the sight of Anderson kneeling before his idol and making slurping noises for the next 8 weeks. I just can’t take any more. I’m still pretty alarmed about Obama's halo slipping these last few weeks. But honestly, now that he’s carrying as much negative baggage as Hillary always has, I’m still too pissed off at Howard Dean and the DNC to want them to have the final say on which of these candidates is the least poisonous.

After all, it really is all about image and spin now. How could either of these two look any worse than that dessicated lizard with the Stepford wife hovering over his shoulder?