Sobering Gut Check II

Back in January I offered the opportunity for all of us to do a gut check on the then-candidates running in both GOP and Democrat primaries. I meant to do it several times before November, but then forgot because I often forget what I’ve written, but I stumbled upon the thing last night and thought…let’s take another gut check.

It’s worth noting that Fred Dalton Thompson dropped out of the race within days of the last “gut-check,” and that seemed to suckerpunch many who have never quite gotten over it. I’ve long suggested that the GOP’s refusal to get behind none but the “perfect” candidate until it was too late was mostly their own doing, and they’re only in more disarray, today. A lot has changed in 5 months, but not that.

I perused my January archives a bit and I’d forgotten all about how badly Hillary screwed up, there, with the “no woman is illegal” nonsense and the NH crying. Barack seemed much more sure-footed back then, too, rather than seriously gaffe-proned, under-coached and ill-informed, which is how he appears (to me, at least) today. John McCain is the only one of the candidates who seems the same today as he did in January. I’m not sure that’s a good or bad thing, but stability may be a plus, in these roiling times.

A few things to bear in mind:

The next president of the United States is going to have the privilege of appointing at least 3 SCOTUS justices, who will each be there for perhaps three decades. He or she is going to preside over an economy that lately gets a case of the vapors with every rumor and weather report. The next president will finally have to deal squarely with our over-dependence upon foreign oil – an issue to which every president since Carter has paid lip-service; they’ve done nothing while our own resources have been put out of our own reach. This president will have to – finally – do something about the social security system that will be enormously strained by retiring baby-boomers bent on collecting everything they’ve got coming to them. President Bush couldn’t do anything about it – even with a GOP congress – but that hand will be forced soon.
[…]
…You may not “love” him or her. You don’t have to. All you have to do is ponder: which one of these people…will be the best servant of America – not of you, baby – but of all America?

The question is not who do you like, or who do you desire, but who do you TRUST with all that power?

There are three major candidates left. Take a look at each; see what they say to you. I’m using the same pictures as last time, pulled from their sites, and am not resizing or changing them in any way. Randomly, in no particular order:

President Barack Obama:
The Most Powerful Person on the Planet

President Hillary Rodham Clinton:
The Most Powerful Person on the Planet

President John McCain:
The Most Powerful Person on the Planet

Check your gut and see what it’s telling you, today. And if you’re still not sure – read this NY Times report on the SCOTUS and note that the reporter seems appalled that rulings are being based on the “facts of the case.” Quel Dommage! The court appointments coming up within the next year are crucial.