Democrats for McCain? Few Will Remain

A new poll is raising flags of hysteria and giddiness among some of the political candidates’ supporters and opponents. And once again the media is focusing mainly on how those flags, metaphorically, are rippling and popping in the wind.

We still aren’t being told enough about who the candidates really are, what they really believe, where they get their advice and counsel, how they really define the major issues facing the nation, and why they really think they can make a difference.

According to CNN, a recent Associated Press poll shows that Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain are essentially tied, and McCain may be “benefiting from the drawn out Democratic primary race.”

The AP survey also supposedly found that “[c]lose to a quarter of Obama supporters reported they will back McCain if the Illinois senator fails to get the nomination, while a third of Clinton backers said they'd vote Republican if Obama is the Democratic nominee, “ according to the CNN story.

Actually, it’s difficult to believe that that many supporters of Obama and Clinton would throw over either Democrat in favor of at least four more years of rip-off economics, Middle East quagmire, and political stalemate.

In many other news accounts and blogs, there have been numerous reports of Republicans saying they have had absolutely enough of their party’s hard rightward drift and economic decline under Bush-Cheney and see little hope of meaningful change under McCain. They would rather vote for Obama or Clinton than bear any further responsibly for the possibility of a John McBush Administration.

It’s a safe bet that most Democrats who say they will back McCain if their candidate loses are just trash-talking to hear their jaws flap during the run-up to the Democratic Convention. Once their candidate does lose, and they realize it’s the other one vs. John McBush-McCheney, they’ll likely eat their threats and vote, even if grudgingly, for real change.

Yes, it would be something of a change to have an older Caucasian male succeed George W. Bush. Of course, given the history of the American presidency, that would scarcely count as any difference at all.

Obama-Clinton or Clinton-Obama--either combo would represent the all-time breakaway ticket for change in American presidental politics.

It will take a mega-change like this to start reviving the national economy and, more importantly, the national spirit, in January, 2009.

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