Your Prospective Government has Failed You! (so far)

It's time for that awe inspiring quadrennial event that inflames passions and competitiveness throughout this country...and the world. But unlike the Olympics, America's presidential cycle doesn't bring out the best in our country. Rather, we as a nation and a democracy continue to spiral downwards at the hands of a republican party intent on an incessant bombardment of negative campaigning and pandering to fears and racial tensions that further the division between our two parties.

Not even the diversion of watching the Olympics this weekend was enough to stave off the intrusion of one of this country's great embarrassments (no, not him, I'm referring to Republican attack ads). Even though the ads soured my enjoyment of the Olympic's opening ceremony and subsequent competition, I have to hand it to the neocons: they thought to buy a lot of air space during one of the most watched events in the world. They got their message out there - if you can call that hate-filled, dishonest, fear-mongering rubbish a message. Where was Obama? In Hawaii. On vacation.

The failure of our prospective new leadership, whomever he might be, is twofold: first, and foremost, is McCain for continuing the trend of loathsome, intellectually insulting campaigning that panders to the most common, ill-informed members of our society. I naively hoped that I'd seen the last of this four years ago and that McCain would be a different kind of Republican. But we're not so lucky. He is EXACTLY the same kind of weak-willed, do-nothing, dishonest politicians that have soiled the White House for the last 10 years (yes, I include Clinton's last two years in this).

Second, Obama doesn't get a pass. Because one thing that I'd hoped the Democrats had learned from the 2000 and 2004 elections is that if you are going to get in the ring with a dirty fighter, you need to be prepared to get dirty yourself. My father always told me never to start a fight, but he also taught me how to avoid losing one. Shame on Obama and his handlers for not being prepared for this. John Kerry tried to take the high road and it got him nowhere. With all apologies, turning the other cheek does not work in American politics. McCain thinks he can get away with this crap by nodding and winking and trying to act as if this is all a joke. But it isn't a joke. It's a tragedy. And if we get stuck with the same kind of politician for another four year...it will be because the Democrats still haven't figured out how to go blow-for-blow with their sinister counterparts. Maybe Obama is doing the rope-a-dope. Maybe the trip to Hawaii is like a fighter going to his corner, recharging before the next round. Let's hope so...I'm tired of watching the Democrats go down without a fight. But I'll tell you this...I wish that it was James Carville in Obama's corner...there is a man who knew how to fight Republican style campaigns.