SlowpokeBlog

Let me start by analyzing the two other leading candidates:

Hillary is smart and politically savvy, which means she will probably avoid making stupid gaffes like John Kerry routinely did in 2004. But she's so beholden to corporate interests and prone to triangulation that I don't see her bringing about any bold or meaningful change. I also don't see her as quite the inevitable victor that everyone else does. America's aversion to having a lady in charge runs deep.

Obama, I'm sorry to say, has been pissing me off. On his blog, Paul Krugman has been documenting Obama's repeated use of right-wing memes on the campaign trail -- from claiming we have a Social Security "crisis" (we don't, mainly because Reagan and Greenspan raised payroll taxes in the 1980s on working folks), to going squishy on universal health care. He's opposed to mandates, which are necessary for this sort of cost-sharing program, and wants to work with the insurance companies to find a solution that makes everyone happy. Except the kind of health care reform we need isn't going to make the insurance companies happy. Saying so does not make one anti-business. When an industry becomes as inefficient and of as dubious public benefit as the health insurance industry has, then it's good business to create an alternative. I say this as a small businessperson (very small!) who pays through the nose for health insurance.

Repeating right-wing talking points does long-term damage to the cause of solving our health care crisis (and it is a crisis). To invoke them for short-term political gain at the expense of the country is unforgivable.

Edwards rightly regards making a deal that will please the insurance companies as a "complete fantasy." The past seven years of Bush administration's unwillingness to compromise on practically everything tells you all you need to know about trying to find common ground with market fundamentalists/movement conservatives. A true leader goes on the offensive, sets the terms of the debate, and doesn't let the other side define him or her. Edwards is the only mainstream candidate to do this consistently. And his message about the abuses of power that have led to gross inequality in this country needs to be heard. I do worry that the idiotic haircut story will sink him, but he deserves our support for having the courage to say what needs to be said.

Ultimately, I predict it'll come down to Clinton vs. McCain. I can't believe these newspapers in New Hampshire think Mitt Romney is a phony but not McCain. That man is as slick a politician as they come; he always compromises his supposedly "maverick" ideals whenever push comes to shove. A total weasel.