Even though they have been bowed by the polls into thinking that Obama won, the punditry still seems to be obsessed with John McCain's declaration that he isn't Bush, and Obama should have run four years ago if he wanted to run against Bush. The problem McCain faces, however, is that there is no way he can't disassociate himself with Bush. At this point, Republicans have simply proven themselves too much of a direct threat to the modernist institutions that make our civilization possible for any Republican to disassociate him or herself from Bush.
There was a time, not long ago, when Americans were willing to consider Republicans. In fact, they were even willing to turn to Republicans after the 1990's, during which time Democratic leadership had resulted in vast peace and prosperity for the country. However, this was before they were revealed to be a direct threat to the economic, military, media and educational institutions that most Americans always assumed were off-limits and generally indestructible by either party. Now, however, the direct threat has been revealed, and McCain's attempt to distance himself from Bush is futile. In fact, it is more than futile: he claims to hate Bush, but his attempts to distance himself Bush will only make people want something even further from Bush. McCain's statements actually make the perfect case for Obama's candidacy. Bush sucks and is a direct threat to us, but he also claimed he wasn't a threat. As such, McCain's claims to be different from Bush actually sound like Bush. We have heard these lies before. You claim not to threaten the things that make our country great, but you actually do. So, we will vote for someone who is actually different, not someone who simply claims to be.
Obama is obviously different from Bush. McCain, not so obvious. It all makes me think of the Canadian elections last night, where the left was incredibly divided. 26% for the Liberals, 17% for the New Democrats, and 7% for the Greens. A split like that only happens when the conservatives don't prove themselves to be a direct threat to the modernist institutions that allow a G7 nation to function. In Canada, clearly the conservatives haven't proven to be that threat to enough people yet. In America, they clearly have proven to be that threat. As such, Canadian conservatives can still govern, but American conservatives simply cannot. Republicans have simply proven themselves to be too much of a threat. They grew so powerful, they could actually threaten the powerful institutions that most people would think transcend partisan government. That threat looms over this election, and will lead to a huge Democratic landslide.
I wonder, once the Democratic landslide has removed that threat, if support for Democrats will continue at such a high level. The country isn't pro-Democratic so much as it is reacting to the destruction of its middle class, military and media. Failure to restore those institutions could result in severe political consequences for Democrats. Our country--and yes, our civilization--are under direct threat. McCain can't prove he is different, but Democrats better do so when they govern. |
