Editor's Archives Election Year Commentaries
(Posted January 25, 2006. From the Winter 2006-2007 issue that was released January 1, 2007, this was written December 10, 2006)
Welcome MSR readers,
I’ve received comments both ways about my commentaries in Main Street Rag. I have friends who say they read it first. My mother reads it and gives me a list of grammatical corrections when next we see each other. One reader even nominated the Front Seat for Best of Issue two issues back. Others are not as enamored with it and it has at least once caused a subscriber to cancel a subscription. Since it does ultimately represent my own personal thoughts and often my darker side, I like the idea of placing them at the back of the magazine. So here we are.
Politics
It wasn’t a complete victory, but the November 2006 election was enough to tell the folks in charge that the electorate was unhappy with the way things are going. Unfortunately, there was not enough of a change to make a difference. We didn’t lop off the head of the beast and in this case, I think it would still spin around on the ground sputtering propaganda and dogma that only it believes.The Democrats have inherited the worst-case scenario: They control the Congress but not enough to over-ride a veto. Iraq will be the defining event of George Bush’s presidency. He needs to make it work the way he said it would or history will record him as a bungler. To avoid that judgment, he must also not appear to have been bailed out by his father or by Congress. Ultimately, all successful decisions must appear to have been his and since there is a shortage of successful decisions concerning the entire conflict, he has 2 years of battling and (in his words) compromising with Congress to get something done. Here is a President that from the outset has been the poster boy for “my way or the highway.” I don’t see compromise as an option. I think there will be headway in minimum wage and probably some social issues, but basically, I see stalemate for the remainder of the Bush term.
So what about the options for 2008? They’re starting to line up at the gate. Rudy Giuliani and John McCain seem to be the frontrunners for the Republicans; Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama—though neither have officially declared their candidacy yet—seem to be ahead for the Democratic Party. In the shadows are John Edwards, Al Gore, John Kerry, Mitt Romney and a flock of other wannabes.
I’m amazed that Rudy Giuliani is under serious consideration. Not that I don’t like him or admire the job he did after the 9/11 incident, but he just has so much baggage that normally dissuades the social voters within the Republican Party. I don’t see him lasting long in this race.
John McCain—at this point—seems to be the odds-on favorite. And why not, he bargained away his soul in the last presidential race for the right to be the candidate in 2008. I would have voted for him then if he had stood his ground and espoused his true beliefs, but he compromised for party politics even when he knew his party and party leadership were wrong. He campaigned for George Bush—that makes him an accomplice in this debacle. Until that moment, he was the right guy, but anyone willing to compromise his principles so drastically can never be the right guy. He may win the nomination, but he’s lost my respect forever.
Mitt Romney is the dark horse, but the most intriguing Republican candidate in my mind. He’s likeable and he’s proven an ability to win in a predominantly Democratic state. He’s pushing a social agenda and that plays well for the more right-wing among the Republican Party who place their economic freedoms above the individual rights of others. The future of the Republican Party may well be decided on how well Mitt Romney does in this primary.
I said then and I will repeat now that I never thought John Kerry was the right guy. He still isn’t and the more he talks, the more he proves he’s not. Don’t run John. Keep your money in ketchup.
Al Gore, the wooden one, has managed to transform himself into a fun kinda guy. In December he even did a parody of his own movie on global warming—a subject he holds near and dear—on Saturday Night Live. Polls are all over the place on his candidacy. Many Americans like him, but he scares corporate America. I’d rather he not, but if he ended up the Democratic Party choice, I’d have to give him serious consideration.
Hillary Clinton—while she is capable of winning the Democratic ticket—is not capable of winning a presidential race and it has nothing to do with America’s willingness to elect a female Commander-in-Chief. She is a polarizing figure simply by her past actions. There are those who will always view her healthcare proposal as socialism and will never vote for her on that basis. The great shame is that many of those same people will live to regret the lack of the coverage she proposed at some point in their lives. Unfortunate as it may seem, if healthcare in America does not move toward a government-run program soon, more than half of our population will be unable to afford their medical needs. I blame Ronald Reagan for this. Since he privatized the medical industry in the 1980s, the cost of medical care has inflated at a staggering pace—much faster than the rest of the economy including the oil industry. Hillary is a smart lady. She has to know that she can’t possibly change certain minds and at some point she will admit to herself that the money she has raised can be put to better use than running against fellow Democrats. She is also a very powerful Senator and can forge more change from there. Smart money says she tests the water and pulls back somewhere around the third primary to support the eventual winner.
John Edwards has removed himself from having a voting record while managing to keep his pretty face in the public eye; a very smart move by (possibly) the leading candidate—depending on his campaign theme. If he decides to run on the same theme as last time, shipping jobs overseas, I for one will object vociferously. Both he and his wife have recently published books that I would bet were produced in Southeast Asia—since most bigger publishing companies are producing hardbacks there. The printing industry as a whole is one of the largest remaining domestic industries. Nearly 60% of ALL of America’s jobs are in some way related to the printing/publishing industry. If you want to see a real disruption in America’s economic health, continue to ship print/publishing production overseas. There is a reason why Main Street Rag PROUDLY displays the words, “Produced in the United States of America” on the copyright page of all MSR books.
Barak Obama. When I first heard him speak at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, I was blown away. He is charismatic in a way that no other candidate is and if he wins the nomination, it will be a milestone for America. Republicans will target his lack of experience in national politics. Personally, I think experience in national politics is overrated. Besides, Republicans touted it as an advantage when Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush were running and I think a leader who inspires is much more effective than one who can march out a list of past accomplishments. Ultimately, it is not our leaders who make America what it is, but we the people and we have not been very inspired since pre-Monica Lewinsky. I look forward to an Obama candidacy.
There are other good possibilities that I did not mention. Bill Richardson of New Mexico is one, Condoleezza Rice is another. As always, I’d like to see a third-party candidate and if I were to nominate one, I’d choose Colin Powell. Call me naïve, but one thing I see lacking in American politics as a whole is nobility, someone actually working toward the greater good and not the benefit of greedy self-interest groups, corporate lobbyists or polarized factions of political parties.
I was a big West Wing buff and two segments of that series remain strong reminders of how great our leaders could be if they set party politics aside. When Alan Alda, the Republican candidate and loser of a presidential race agreed to be Jimmy Smits’ Secretary of State, it was more than the real-life version of James Baker. Because it was a winner conceding to both the opposing candidate and the electorate that there were some areas where his opponent may have been more knowledgeable and a loser acknowledging that even though it would ruin him within his own party, it was what was best for the nation. Don’t ever expect to see this scenario played out in real life.
The other moment was when President Barkley (Martin Sheen) temporarily handed his office over to the Speaker of the House (John Gooden) because his daughter had been kidnapped. I cannot fit the entire series of events into this column that I would consider both courageous and noble, but that is why I mentioned this television drama and this segment of it in particular. It’s why we immortalize fiction, because it inspires us in a way that reality does not.
This type of sacrifice is MIA in American politics. The only way to restore it is to place someone in office with ideals that are more than simply economic conveniences, they are dreams and goals that will inspire us. Bill Clinton had that ability, but he was too flawed as a human being to bring them to fruition. Colin Powell made one mistake in life: He hooked up with the Bush Administration. To his credit, he played the good soldier for the duration of his term and resigned then rather than when he first learned of their betrayal. He has distanced himself from the administration since and only recently let tidbits of his true sentiments out. Here is a man of integrity whose concern would be the American people. As such he would not get the support of either party, but I hope he considers the third alternative.
Therein lies a preview of some of what I’ll be discussing in this section over the next two years.
Book Release Party
December 1, Jill and I flew to San Francisco for a book release party for Jennifer Sweeney (pictured here). As many of you know, Jennifer’s book, Salt Memory, was the winner of the 2006 MSR Poetry Book Award. This is the first time we’ve traveled for a release party for our contest winner, but due in large part to its success we intend to try it for future winners as well. It didn’t hurt that Jennifer lived in San Francisco and that I’d never been there before she was named winner. That fact would allow us to tie in a little personal time in wine country into our business trip.The primary reason why we would like to hold this type of event for all future winners is the mantra I’ve been saying to our authors since we started publishing poetry books: Poetry sells best where the poet is. We’ve brought previous winners to North Carolina and not received the kind of support that makes the effort feasible. The events we attended while in California helped reinforce that premise.
The first event was held at The Center for the Book in San Francisco. It was a chilly Friday night and parking anywhere in San Francisco is tough, though not quite so bad here. There was a crowd of over 50 people and the setting for this event was superb. The San Francisco Center for the Book is a letterpress shop run by Katherine Case. They specialize in chapbooks and broadsides often produced on homemade paper. These folks are artists. They produce high quality limited run prints that are a cut above the Print-On-Demand world we live in. As you can see by the photos, the seating was placed in and around some of the equipment and some of their award-winning prints are displayed on the walls. I can’t think of a better setting for a poetry reading.
The second event was at the Black Oak Bookstore in Berkeley and was sponsored by Flash Poetry. It, too, was well-attended and one remarkable thing about these two California audiences was their willingness to buy books. I did not get an exact count since Jennifer (and her husband Chad) were handling sales, but it sure looked like most of the people who came to the readings bought a copy of Salt Memory as well as copies of fellow reader Clare Rossini’s two books. It’s always great to gather for events such as these with fellow poets, but let’s be honest: The primary purpose for reading events is to sell books. It’s good to see it work once in awhile.
Herds of Prius(es)
In Charlotte, I wouldn’t be surprised if the only time 2 Prius(es) are within 3 miles of each other is on the dealer’s parking lot. In California they are everywhere in unimaginable numbers. It makes sense. The Prius is a practical car and gasoline in California is at least 30 cents per gallon more than it is here. It should also be noted that no one in NASCAR drives a Prius and until someone starts racing them around an oval track, they will never be popular in North Carolina.In Berkeley we saw so many Prius(es) it reminded me of our last trip to Grand Lake, Colorado. On that trip we seemed to stumble upon a PT Cruiser rally. The town was swarming with them—most of them sporting custom paint jobs. People were walking around taking pictures and comparing. I would never accuse a Prius of being as sporty as a PT Cruiser and although I did not see people stopping and pointing at them as they drove by or photographing them where they were parked on the street (in California), they were so prevalent that I thought it was something akin to a clan gathering or drivers were for some reason being herded to this particular part of America. Either way I can testify that conscientious fuel consumption does not ensure better driving habits since I was almost run down by a Prius while crossing the street at a cross walk. They are quiet (sneaky) little buggers.
Fuel Costs
Sometimes I forget to gloat when my predictions are right. I said in an earlier column that anyone who thought that the cost of gasoline wasn’t going up the day after the election is naïve. Here it went up 3 cents the day after and ten cents within a week after. It should also be noted that during that same time period the cost of a barrel of oil actually went down. So any doubt that the oil industry was trying to buy votes for their buddies in the White House should be erased. It’s time we take a serious look at their profits. Only price gouging or criminal activity could have produced the record profit levels they’ve been posting.That’s all you’re getting out of me this time around. See you in three.
M. Scott Douglass
Publisher/Managing Editor
Main Street Rag
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