Thinking Out Loud
By
Gerard Meister
New Page 1
The presidential election bug
first bit me when I bet five smackers on Harry Truman (at three to one odds,
I’ll have you know) to beat Tom Dewey back in 1948. And now, things are even
more interesting what with candidates trying to balance their ticket
every which way – geographically, gender wise and ever so delicately,
racially.
I wanted to take a look at the Democrats first because that party seems
to have two candidates, Clinton and Obama, well out in front of the pack, so I
managed to secretly get a couple of my top investigative reporters imbedded in
their campaigns. And what I found out is pretty startling. For instance, Mrs.
Clinton has already worked out the top three posts of her administration, hoping
to put a cog in the fast spinning Obama wheel, to wit:
- For
her Vice President she is leaning towards a Nancy Pelosi favorite, Rep.
Alcee Hastings. The gentleman is the right color (African American), the
right gender (for a female
President) and comes from a populous red state (
Florida
). As an added plus,
Hastings
, a federal judge at the time, was impeached in 1988 and thrown off the
bench. Since the chances of anyone getting impeached more than once in a
lifetime is between slim and none, makes him especially attractive.
- For
her Secretary of State she is leaning towards Al Gore. After all, the
Clintons
owe Al, who at one time was “the next President of the
United States
.” This appointment would be seen as a mark of
Clinton
’s loyalty, which is a trait Americans admire.
- For
her Secretary of Defense, she is pretty well settled on General Wesley
Clark, which should set aside all the rumors of Mrs. Clinton “having it
in” for the military.
Barak Obama, because he’s so new on the scene, had to
cobble together a team with an extra measure of wisdom and experience. And to
also match his rival. perhaps a mirror image of
Clinton
’s strategy would cinch the nomination .for the personable Obama
- For
his Vice President he is committed to Barbara Boxer, the right gender
(female), the right race (white) and comes from our most populous state (
California
).
- For
his Secretary of State none other than Nobellist Jimmy Carter; not only a
former President, but the foreign affairs guru of our successes in
Iran
,
Korea
and
Haiti
.
- For
his Secretary of Defense an especially clever choice, Representative Dennis
Kucinich. Having a pacifist head the Pentagon would not only titillate his
far left followers, but what with the anticipated cutbacks in spending on
our armed forces the Democrats, Obama could argue, wouldn’t have to raise
taxes all that much!
Next month I’ll report on what Republicans are up to.
Plenty of surprises there, too. ¯
Click on author's byline for bio.
|
