There are 596 days until Election Day 2008. Can you tolerate the thought?
With the endless political droning on TV, radio, and in the print media, it's going to be a very long haul to the next president. Especially when you have the ancient sage of "60 Minutes" calling one of the major candidates a "horse's ass" and questioning his premarital sexual activity on national television. Nice. It's the kind of lefty class that makes me grateful I haven't watched that show for years.
But you can't escape the negativity surrounding all of the main Republican contenders. It's as though the bitter taste of the turmoil of war in Iraq and Afghanistan has been infused into each one of them, courtesy of a relentlessly left-biased media. None of the Republicans will get a fair shake from MSM, as far as I can see.
Romney will be forced to babble on about his religion, a total non sequitur in the larger question of how to run the country; Guiliani will continue to be hounded about his abortion stance, a single plank in a complex platform; McCain will go on being needled about his age instead of asked about his policy plans.
This is as the media wants it. MSM is delighted with all the distractions surrounding the "Big Three" Republicans, because it can turn full, unquestioned focus on the chinks in their armor rather than the issues at hand. If Fred Thompson announces he will run, as is expected, of course the perils of recurring cancer--and the playing catch-up angle--will be the centerpieces of his media coverage.
Have you seen a single negative story about Hillary? Neither have I. How about Obama? Not really. Any gaffes this newbie makes are quickly muffled, with attention redirected towards the opposition. And remember John Edwards' $400 haircut? That fell off the front pages faster than Fort Dix.
There's no doubt that MSM wants a Democrat in the White House next time, and it's equally certain that Americans are weary enough of the constant political fray to likely cooperate in putting one there. It's also true that all of the Republican contenders have mismanaged their campaigns to one extent or another, up to this point. I believe our country would be safer and stronger with the election of a Republican president in 2008. But I also believe, with each news cycle, that my belief may be closer to becoming an impossible dream.
