The Art Of Futility

The McEwan is relatively ticked off at this announcement:

Okay, this has got to be a joke, right? The DNC is just [EDITED] with the press, who's dumb enough to fall for the suggestion that Joe [EDITED] Biden is "believed to be at the top of" Obama's veep shortlist. Because there's no way in blue hell that Obama could be foolish enough to be seriously considering for one blinking second putting on his ticket the speech plagiarizing, bankruptcy bill voting, Bush-coddling, racist, sexist [EDITED] Biden, a consummate gaffe machine who launched his own '08 presidential bid with a screeching dog whistle that declared Obama "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." (Hey, if I don't cuss on this blog, no one does. -- Ed.)

Talk about your heated response to what is a simple announcement of the line-up of speakers for the same day that Obama's Veep selection is due to speak. And yet...

And yet this reminds me of when the primaries first started. Everyone and anyone would fall all over themselves at the merest hint that Insert-Candidate-Here would be in the race for The Leader Of The Free World due to Insert-Reason-Here. Whether factual or fictional, whether accused of misogyny or racism or ageism, or the pandering to specific interest groups such as the "LGBTQI issues" she uses later in the post to almost disqualify Bayh in her eyes, the reasons come fast and furious and with absolutely zero consistency.

(Or, in my case, I was once "diagnosed" with clinical Clinton Derangement Syndrome with severe misogynist tendencies, complete with the request that I contact my mental health provider for some chemical asistance as soon as possible. I got a good chuckle out of that one, noted that my "mental health provider" tends to be a confectioner who provides me with high-quality 89% cocoa, and am now kicking myself for not bookmarking the comment so I can show the studio audience. But I digress.)

The base fact is that there is no perfect candidate, just as there is no perfect vice-presidential selection. Somewhere, someone will always be complaining about the choice. The balancing act comes where the candidates try to pick the person likely to offend the least number of people. That is the goal that Obama's selection committee should be focusing on rather than finding someone that the radical far-left progressives won't burn at the virtual stake.

Which means that, if we're trying to find the least offensive person available, it will be someone A) from the east of the Rockies and west of the Appalachians, B) white, C) male, D) moderate, or any 3 of the above. Why those criteria? It leaves out the California Senators, who would be automatic fodder for attack ads throughout the campaign. Ditto Washington State and New England. Kaine has already removed himself from consideration, so Virginia is out. This still leaves the aforementioned Biden and Bayh, plus Kathy Sibelus and Bill Richardson, plus a few others that are also worthy of the nod, well in the running.

With the sole exception of Sibelus, this list leaves the radical-left progressives somewhat in the cold. And that is precisely what needs to happen in anticipation of the general election. It is no longer about securing the base, for the McCain candidacy does that automatically with no-worries no-hurries no-muss no-fuss and only the gentle reminder of the supposed "Third Bush Term" to have them remaining safely in Obama's camp. Now is the time to concentrate on the 20% of the electorate that matters in the general election... The Moderates. The Swing Voters. As Limbaugh calls them, The People In The Middle Of The Road That Always Get Hit By A Big-Ass Truck Because They Can't Pick A Side.

Why am I so confident that the radical left will stick with Obama through the election? For the same reason that the Republicans aren't worried that McCain will hurt their chances with the religious right. They may hold their nose when they pull the lever, but, in the end, they realize that someone that agrees with you part of the time is vastly better than someone that agrees with you none of the time. The bottom line is putting the person of your party into the Oval Office, for that is where the power is concentrated. He may not be your candidate, but he's your candidate now.

And for that reason alone, the theme behind this song applies.



Until the end of the world.

Regardless of what they do, this year I'm still voting for the greater evil.