Oy Vey, the 2008 election!

Last updated on: March 16, 2017 at 7:33 pm by Elizabeth Scalia

Oy Vey, the 2008 election! 2017-03-16T19:33:31+00:00 Elizabeth Scalia

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I’ve had the strangest string of emails over the past few days, some from strangers (both left and right) and others from old email correspondents who are looking for someone to share a thought with.

What’s odd is that nearly all of them are indicating to me that they feel something is “off” about this election. They all sense something coming down the pike.

One person wrote to agree with an old prediction of mine that McCain, despite all indications to the contrary, may not be the GOP nominee, come November. That’s just a feeling I’ve had all along, that – perhaps for health reasons – McCain might end up backing out. This writer also admitted “…it could just be wishful thinking on my part, since he seems to be running Bob Dole’s old campaign.”

Well, McCain does seem to be so busy trying to reassure everyone that he is “nice” that he is missing opportunities to play hardball against an opponent who is clearly up for it. And if rumor is correct and he is thinking Romney over Gov. Sarah Palin for his veep, well…two dull white guys against an exotic charmer like Obama (and his possibly female veep)…that sounds like the Fade Into the Background Ticket From Hell, to me. But then I wrote a long time ago that the GOP was going to need some flavor in ’08:

The next GOP candidate has to be charismatic, and yes, have a patina, however thin, of ethnicity. John Kerry and Al Gore were the last two button-downed-droning-mainline-protestant types we’re going to see as serious candidates for a long time, I think. And to be honest, Kerry was so insecure and phony, and Gore was so nakedly crazed by the end of his 2000 campaign, that their weirdnesses stood in the place of ethnicity, which is probably the wrong word. Perhaps the word I want is “flavor.” President Bush is WASP but with a twinge of cowboy and plain-folks about him that is appealing. A staid, respectable white fellow with no twinge of flavor is going to die out there. He’s everyone’s competent project manager, but no one’s CEO. Again, who has got flavor in the GOP? Rudy. Rice. Romney has a little because he is exotically Mormon, but as I said, I suspect that flavor will not travel well. In a world where “It’s Hard Out There for a Pimp” is an award-winning song, a candidate has to bring more to the party than the dependability of a Maytag washer.
[…]
You know what’s funny? I know the press thinks John McCain is the front-runner…but honestly, he doesn’t even pop into my head.

Another writer says McCain does nothing for the conservative “movement” and there may yet be a convention floor battle. I disagree. That will only happen if – as I said – McCain backs out for health reasons OR the Democrats have a dramatic and successful floor battle and that excites the GOP to into doing the same.

Yet another writer tells me she’s not sure Obama is going to be the nominee, either, because she’s not convinced Hillary is out of the picture, nor does she want her to be. This lady notes that Hillary merely suspended her campaign, never conceded, and she’s looking for a convention fight! She even sent me a video to go along with her thoughts! I like the music! But I do think that Hillary – for the settling of her campaign debt – may have “conceded”. In a fashion. Sort of.

Finally, a person of the left wrote me a friendly-ish letter, Although he had to tell me how stupid I was, he wished me no ill, but he wanted my thoughts on the idea that President Bush will “nuke Iran, declare martial war and suspend the elections indefinitely!”

I told him that in 2000, Clinton-haters envisioned the exact same scenario (except Clinton was supposedly going to be nuking Iraq instead of Iran) so that indicated to me a level of paranoia commensurate with ideological fervor and nothing more. I added that I could not think of man more unwilling to leave the Oval Office than Bill Clinton, or a man more eager to get the hell out of there than George W. Bush.

But I do think it is interesting that so many people are wondering if anything is actually what it seems to be in Election 2008.

To which there is only one response: oy, vey – not another screwy election! Lord, help us!

Former CBS newsguy Dick Meyer, now writing at NPR, writing at NPR<has some good advice for the rest of the election cycle: Breathe – then diversify. Then breathe some more.

Glenn Reynolds has more on those unhappy Clinton supporters

And, because I like the music, here is the Hillary-fan’s video:

America

Barack Obama

Bride at every wedding...

Election 2008

John McCain

Our Hillary!

The Perpetual Adolescents

TV/Pop Culture/Music

Previous Post

July 6, 2008

Puffery vs Substance and the US Press

Next Post

July 7, 2008 Snap into shape, Vaginas!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "Remaking" Ourselves 'Remaking' America 9/10 Mindset 9/11 trials Abortion ACORN Adoration Advent Advent 2008 Advent 2009 Advent 2010 Alternative Energy Alternative Media America American Catholic Church American Church American Genius Ameridolatry ANCHORESS BOOKSHELF Anglican-Roman Reconciliation Answers & Questions Anti_Semitism Archbishop Hilarion Ayn Rand Bad Mass Barack Obama Baseball Benedict Benedict & Islam Benedict in UK Benedict XVI Benedictine Bill Whittle Birth Control Blogs and Blogging Blogs and Blogging Bloodless Coup Bobby Jindal Bookchat Breitbart Bride at every wedding... Bride at every wedding... Buckley Bullies Bush Bad? Bush Good Buster Capitalism Catholic Fiction Catholic Vocations Catholicism Celibacy Chaput Charitable Stuff Chesterton Chile Chris Christie Christians in Exile Christine O' Donnell Christmas Christmas Gift Ideas Church Hates Science? Church hates women Communion of Saints Compline Conclave 2013 Confession Constitutional Stuff Conversion Crisis & Opportunity Critical Thinking Crooks and Liars Crucible of Faith Cuba Culture of Life Culture of Life/Death Culture of Treason? Dancing Death Dialogue re Islam Dick Meyer Divorce and Remarriage DOJ Domestic Terrorism Dominican Order Don't try me too high Dowd Dumb Democrat moves Dumb GOP moves Economic woe Education Egregious Harry Reid Elder Son Elder Son's Sweet Girlfriend Elderly Election '10 Election '12 Election '16 Election 2004 Election 2006 Election 2008 Election 2010 Election 2016 Elena Kagan Elitism Embryonic Stem Cell Research End Times? English language Enhanced Interrogation Erosion of Rights Eucharist Euthanasia Exorcism Extraordinary Synod Facebook Faith Faith and Reason Faith Friday Faith Perspective Faithful Friday Fascism Again Fascism in America Fatima FCC Feminism Film First Things Forgiveness Fr. James Martin Francis and Islam Francis in America Frassati Fred Thompson Free Speech? Freedom of Worship FutureChurch Global Pandemic GOP Congress Haiti Head Covering Health Care Here and Queer Hermits Heroes Hitchens Holy Spirit Holy Week '09 Holy Week '10 Hoo-Hah & BS Hoo-Hah & BS Icons Illegal Immigration In The Arena Interviews Interwebz Iran Uprising Iraqi Christians ISIL ISIS Islamic State Islamification/Islamofascism Islamification/Islamofascism Isra-El It's all about me! Me! ME! James Burke Jerry Lewis Jesus Christ Joblessness John Boehner John McCain John Paul II John XXIII Juan Williams Just Words Katrina/Rita King is a Fink Latin Mass Leadership Lectio Divina Lent Lent '08 Lent '09 Lent 2010 Lent 2011 Limbaugh Listen to Lizzie Litigious Society Liturgy Liturgy of the Hours Mainstream Media Manliness Marriage Mary Media Excess Medical Merton Michelle Obama Mighty John O' Connor Misc. Miss Ella Missionaries Mitt Romney Monasticism My brother S My Irish Aunties Mystic Monks Nanny Statism Nature NEA Neri New Media Newman Noonan Notre Dame NPR Stuff Nun News Obama Bad? Obama Good? Obama White House Oil Spill Online Retreat '08 Online Retreat Days Oratory Orthodoxy Our Hillary! Parenting Passionists Patheos Patheos Book Club Patrons Paul Ryan Penance Penn Jillette Philosophy PJTV Podcasts Poetry Politics-free zone Pop Culture Pope Emeritus Pope Francis Prayer Predictions Priesthood Pro-Life Public Sector Unions Purgatory Questions about Catholicism Quotes of the Day Quoting the News Race in America rants Recipes Remarried Catholics Reposts by request Retreat thoughts Rome Rudy Giuliani Russia Saints Sarah Palin Scandal Scott Brown SCOTUS Scriptural stuff Secularism Send in the clowns Serving up hot links Sexuality Sherrod Shroud of Turin Sisters and Nuns Social Entrepreneurship Social Media Social Security Socialism doesn't work Sports and Faith Stem Cells Strange Gods Suffering Synod Tea Parties Tea Party Terri Schiavo The 9/11 Commission The Catholic Answer The Constitution The Desert The Fourth Estate The Pelosi The Perpetual Adolescents The Rosary Third Party? Timothy Dolan Touch of evil TSA Tsunami TV/Pop Culture/Music TV/Pop Culture/Music Twitter Uncategorized Unemployment Unintended Consequences US Military Vaginal Musings Vatican Vespers video faves Vile Joe Biden Voter Fraud War by Litigation War on Terror War, What it good for? Why can't weeee be ... World Youth Days Year of Faith Year of the Priest

Select a Month August 2016 July 2016 April 2016 March 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to 1 Peter, what covers over a multitude of sins?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Repentance Prayer Faith Love