Presidentiary Campaigning

I am certain that this point has been made in the past, if not by me, then by some other know-it-all: The extended (to put it charitably) presidential campaign season is very likely to wear the candidates down to the point where regardless of “who’s ready to do the job on the first day,” the individual will be so exhausted that a good old fashioned George W. Bush-style vacation will most certainly be in order. A related point is that Americans (at least this one) are oh so very tired of the ridiculous over-analysis of every little comment, gesture, garment, advertisement, endorsement, et cetera, et cetera. It might not be as ridiculous if the matters being analyzed were actually substantive as opposed to the tabloid coverage even on the so-called respectable news outlets.

I feel as though John Edwards has gotten the extraordinarily short end of the stick as far as this campaign is concerned. While he, like Obama to a degree, have attempted to remain above and beyond the largely Clinton incited fray, the only option at this point may just be to abandon what Edwards knows to be the right thing (e.g. calling the two ‘major candidates’ out for needless bickering) and get down and dirty in the political trenches – employ some Karl Rove-esque tactics. I certainly do not advocate such measures potentially being taken, but it just may be the son of a mill-worker’s last chance to avoid a long period of almost certain political obscurity. To cite Ms. Randi Rhodes, it is becoming unclear whether he is above the fray or indeed beneath it.