Now that the elections are over and the nit-picking and arm-chair quarterbacking has started, this is a good time to reflect on some of the players and the parties themselves. Please note that these are simply my opinions and ramblings.
Senator Hillary Clinton
She did run a tough campaign which, whether you agree or not, seasoned Obama to withstand the republican slime machine quite well. In fact he was so well prepared that the right wing’s attack machine could not dent Obama’s armor any. Without the seasoning by Hillary, who knows how many missteps may have been taken by Obama’s campaign.
Hillary’s future can be as bright as she wants it to be. It may help her to completely come out from under President Clinton’s shadow and be her own person in the Senate. She can be the person who can take the torch from Sen. Kennedy and become the lioness of the senate. Her role as the stalwart of the Democratic Party can be the best role she can play in the coming years. Her street smart and intelligent thinking will be an asset that can wreak further havoc on the weakened Republican Party. But in order for her to follow that path, she must marginalize President Clinton’s ego and interference.
President Clinton
He must now get rid of his oversized ambition and ego with regard to Hillary’s future in the white house and must do what he does best. Be the ambassador of the Democratic party to continue building consensus among Americans to continue to support the Democrats. His tremendous asset is his charm, intelligence and political shrewdness. The Democratic party will do well to embrace those assets of his while keeping him on a tight leash and on message.
Senator Joe Lieberman
One can hope that the Democratic party will have the cajones to strip this traitorous senator of his chairmanship and relegate him to a pariah status. He may be desperate enough to change his affiliation from being an independent to becoming a republican. Logic would dictate that his re-election to the senate is in serious jeopardy, due to no one’s fault but his own.
Sarah Palin
Her future depends on the state of the Republican party in the coming years. If the extreme right wing of the party does indeed solidify their hold on the party, then she will be their pick for the presidential elections of 2012. However, if the moderates or the fiscal conservatives do indeed trump the religious right, then Palin will be nothing but an embarrassing memory for the Republican party. However, the immediate reaction from the spokespeople of the current Republican party (Radio talk show hosts), indicate that the Republican party is going to be much more tightly embraced by the extreme right wing. The talking heads are already calling for the heads of those who dared criticize Palin and are calling for the purging of those people from the party. If the Republican Party does indeed go after Palin for a future run (senatorial or presidential), the party is definitely done for and the Democrats will indeed have more opportunities to solidify their lead in the congress. Just remember another IQ challenged vice president – Dan Quayle
John McCain
While there is no excuse for McCain running a horrendous and insulting campaign, this was not the McCain of old. Among all candidates, his is the most tragic of tales. Realizing this was his last chance at the presidency, he made a deal with the devil; the extreme right wing of the party. The decision to select Palin, the decision to go with horrendous negative attacks, the disgusting fear and hate mongering, the stoking of hatred, the dishonest labeling, and outright lying by the Rovian rabid right wingers were all accepted by McCain in his desperate attempt to become the president. This was not the McCain many had seen in the past. Sadly, his concession speech brought back memories of the old McCain for many people. The old McCain had a sense of decency, common sense and a bit of a rebel in him. That did come through in his concession speech. The Republican Party will not allow McCain to resign from the senate as it will allow Governor Janet Napolitano, an awesome democrat, to name a replacement senator further increasing the Democratic Majority. McCain will serve out his remaining time in the senate and perhaps will be liberated enough to stand up to his un-hinged Republican Party.
Republican Party
Republican Party now resembles the unruly mob that is commonly seen in the Disney classics such as beauty and the beast, etc. They are being led, willingly, by villainous characters who do not realize the damage they are causing the country. These villains are catering to the lowest of the low emotions among its followers. These villains are feeding on the subconscious feelings of hatred and insecurity among many people, cloaking the feast in fancy fear inducing terms such as "Terrorist", "Socialist", "Marxist", etc. This is indeed a sad phase the party is going through. However, the Democrats should not clap their hands in glee at the current state of the Republican Party, rather should learn lessons from this historic collapse of a party that once ruled all branches of the government. The Democrats have been in the exact same predicament that the Republican Party finds itself in today. Rest assured that the Republican Party will rise again and the Democratic Party will have its troubles in the future. However if the Democratic Party learns from its own past and the troubles of the Republican party, they can hold on to the towers of power for a long period of time.
Democratic Party
Howard Dean’s wonderful 50 state strategy has paid huge dividends. However one should not overlook the power of sites such as Dailykos, Huffingtonpost, Crooks and Liars, etc. These blogs and those who run them have gone above and beyond normal politics to enable Democratic candidates to target their base with laser like focus and financial means, and enabling tremendous voter turnouts in many races. For the near future, these blogs will remain the vehicles for continued party success. Like how talk radio helped the republicans in the past, the present and immediate future successes of the Democratic Party lies with technology such as the internet.
