Well, I actively aligned myself with a local Ron Paul organization this week. It marks my first participation of any kind in a presidential election beyond writing a check, sticking a sticker, or running my mouth.
I wish I were more enthusiastic. I’m going to vote for him in the primary, of course, and I’ll find my way to a campaign event or two sometime in the next couple of weeks. I wrote him a check. My truck is stickered.
I’m trying to remain optimistic, but I think he’s close to being nosed out of the debates entirely, and the newsletter problem (which I find rather disappointing myself) will not be easily survived.
I suppose Fred Thompson is my distant second choice, but it’s do-or-die for him in South Carolina day after tomorrow, and I suspect he’ll die. That’s too bad.
His home state is Tennessee, but he was actually born in Sheffield, Alabama, an hour or so west of here. It would have been nice to see an Alabama-born candidate do well. On that note, two years ago I got moderately excited about Condi running. But when it became clear she wasn’t going to, I thought Fred would carry the Alabama flag whilst providing some entertaining political theater. You know, folks saying “I’m gonna vote fer that feller on ‘Law & Order'” and what-not.
But then he takes his massive charisma and hides it under a bushel. I have been nearly continuously offended (as a student of communication) at how poorly Thompson’s campaign has been run. He is much like Calvin Coolidge was in that he seems to have little personal interest in the job; rather, he sees it as answering a call to duty. Actually I find that rather appealing.
However, the political reality is that Eeyore doesn’t look good on television. Tigger does. Thompson found some Tigger in the last debate or two, but it’s way too late. It’s slapping a Band-Aid on a sucking chest wound. All of the marvelous TV/film intangibles he brought to the game were recklessly squandered, and I expect him to bow out in the next 48 to 72 hours.
He may remain an attractive veep pick.
With Paul and Thompson out, I’ll care little about who wins the presidency. A little less than ten months out, I’d even guess it might be the first presidential election I didn’t vote in. (Perhaps I have a little anybody-but-Hillary sentiment, but that’s extraneous here. Alabama would go for Neil Young before it went for Hillary Clinton.)
I only hope we don’t have the same party in control in the White House and the Capitol, because they’ll get to work quickly on giving us the government we deserve good and hard. Instead I want them all pontificating and orating about how they can’t get anything done because the jerks across the aisle won’t play ball.
Gridlock is good for liberty.
You might also like:
- December 13 can’t arrive quickly enough
You people are running me nuts with your incessant, antagonistic chatter. That’s a reasonable sentim… - What of Ron Paul?
There are two opposing columns on National Review Online this week. John Derbyshire argues against s… - A swirling vortex of methane and sadness
My younger son coined that phrase last night. He wasn’t talking about the election, but he certainly… - If you really don’t like either candidate…
You don’t have to read BoWilliams.com long to know that I’m not shy about discussing politics. Somet… - Fred Thompson dead at 73
Actor and former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson died today after a recurrence of lymphoma. He was 73. He…
I, too, have been profoundly disappointed at the way Thompson’s campaign has been won. The man already has built-in name recognition. He’s charismatic and straightforward. He could have done MUCH better than he did, and it’s a wonder to me that his run was as weak and meagre as it was. Of course, for as much as I LOVE the characters he plays in movies and television, I likely wouldn’t have voted for him. His stand on some of the more lefty issues that I care about is a little too conservative.
“Gridlock is good for liberty.” That should be a quote in your rotation, my friend; there’s a profound truth in those five little words…
I have to agree with your assessment of Thompson’s campaign. It is strange how he seems to have just frozen on the spot. I am, of course, pretty excited and nervous about this feb’s primary. Since I’ve never had a say in the presidential primaries before, the responsibility thing is starting to press on me a bit.
Thanks, Mrs. Chili. I’m pleased with a turned phrase once in a while myself.
Saintseester, today is judgment day. We shall see.