Primary Season

This column originally appeared in the Williston Observer on January 31, 2008.

Primary Season

Half my lifetime ago, I was a news editor at the Vermont Cynic, the UVM student newspaper. It was February, 1988, and I jumped at the chance to cover the New Hampshire primary election. I was, after all, a Poli Sci major, and the elections are our World Cup.

The story, alas, was too big for one reporter with a car and week-old candidate schedules. In pre-cell phone, pre-Internet days, the best I could do was see Pete DuPont and Bruce Babbitt on the streets of Manchester; I missed appearances by the bigs, George Bush and Michael Dukakis.

In the end, I found the location for Bush's primary-night party, got press credentials, and staked out a spot near a CNN crew. It was as exciting as it could be as I watched all the machinations, all the behind-the-scenes goings-on.

That primary was held on February 16. This year, New Hampshire's primary was held on the January 8, a full six weeks earlier in just 20 years. I'll rail against the primary process in detail some other time. For now, suffice it to say I find it disturbing.

Despite my consternation about the early start time, this election season has been an exciting one. On the Democratic side, there are some excellent candidates left, and history may be in the making. Unfortunately, for Senators Joe Biden and Chris Dodd, the candidates with the widest experience do not always win.

This isn't to say that John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton would not make good presidents - I think they all would.

Edwards has the kind of populist persona that I recognize in the persons of Woodrow Wilson or Harry Truman. I think he, better than any one, recognizes the plight of the middle class. Even after tanking in Nevada and South Carolina, Edwards quixotically vowed to continue on, though when reality set in, he gracefully bowed out.

I've been a fan of Obama's since I saw his speech at the Democratic national convention in 2004. Though he is thoughtful and would attract the best advisers America has to offer, I worry about his lack of foreign policy credentials. Though the economy is dominating the news now, Iraq, and our standing in the world, are critical issues that demand attention.

I was surprised to see Clinton win her New York Senate seat in 2000, and our proximity to that state has allowed me to follow her career, which I see as very favorable. She is a force in Washington of her own right and has the support of many of the most experienced Democrats. She has travelled the world as a First Lady and Senator and knows the issues. Her longevity and experience are her greatest assets.

I think we all know it is down to Clinton and Obama. I lean toward Clinton, but I can fully support Obama. This year, if things stay close on Super Tuesday, it is entirely possible that Vermont's voice may make a difference. I hope so, it would be a nice change.

Many Democrats have developed a false sense of security; that in choosing our nominee, we are automatically choosing the next President. We cannot fall into that trap. Nothing in politics is set in stone, at least not until the votes are counted, and so we have to be concerned about the Republican nominee. I would be comfortable with only one name.

Before he left the race, Rudy Giuliani squandered the goodwill he'd accumulated as "America's mayor." His repeated invocation of 9/11 wore me down quickly, and based on his showing in Florida, he wore down Republicans, too.

I was on the fence about Mike Huckabee - he seemed likable enough, a man of the people, straight-talking. But his statements that our Constitution should be changed to live up to God's standards made him immediately unacceptable to me. I have not viewed him seriously ever since.

Mitt Romney has a respectable track record in business and government. However, what I want from our next President is a sea change in terms of policy, and Romney has said that he would maintain all of the current policies. What a disappointment it would be to have a Bush clone take office.

The one name, then, is the only one left - that of John McCain. I am troubled by his statement that America could stay in Iraq indefinitely, but his prior stances on torture and campaign finance reform are in line with my own thoughts, his war record is beyond reproach, his record in the Senate has been mostly consistent, and I think his "straight talk" approach is real and not a front for the elections.

That said, I think America's best choice for the next four years will come from the Democratic side. Twenty years ago, the politicians were all planning to go to Washington to make things right for "us and the next generation."

I've seen what conservative values have to offer us as a nation. My kids are that "next generation," and as they might say, "I'm so over it."

(Postscipt: Apologies to Mike Gravel on the Democratic side and to Ron Paul and Alan Keyes on the Republican side, for not being mentioned in the original column, but space is not unlimited.)