Politics and Culture

I've offered my sword and pen (tablet) to McCain and will do what I can to elect him, but if Friday's debate helped Obama, it looks very very bad for McCain-Palin.

However, Obama to become our commander in chief, we should not despair, fall into lefty style hatred and nit-picking, or otherwise lose our heads. Specifically, we shouldn't go nuts with the Jeremiah Wright ads and predict economic disaster. The non-economic disaster of the Clinton administration lost conservatives a lot of credibility like liberals lost credibility on...well, everything else (crime, taxes, welfare, school, etc.). In fact, it's the distant memory of a disastrous Democratic administration that will allow Obama to win.

Before I begin my best-case scenario, I'd like to state that this isn't the most important election of my lifetime. Of those, I consider the 68, 76, 80, and 2004 elections more important. Why?

The war in Iraq is won. Kerry would have lost the war in Iraq just to spite Bush and other hegemonists. Although Obama can't claim credit for winning the war, he will rightly be blamed for losing it and will thus not leave just to please Code Pink loonies.

Furthermore, Obama will keep the United States safe because he doesn't want another attack any more than Bush or McCain does and increasing security also increases government (win-win for Democrats). Liberals don't really care about securing their library records from the Patriot Act gestapo. They'd let a liberal intrude on any part of their life just like they let Clinton start any war he wished.

So, barring a road-to-Damascus-like conversion, a best case Obama scenario would be Clinton II or: an uneventful presidency with no major foreign policy or housing-like economic challenges and a vigorous Republican opposition:

1. Obama will raise taxes until people begin to notice and then he'll either stop, saving the economy and his re-election, or defiantly continue and insure a Republican takeover of congress. I don't anticipate another new industry (Save me the "green jobs" idiocy.), like the nineties' PC-internet revolution, to allow economic growth in a high-tax environment (Also, most people don't remember the investment and other taxes lowered by the Republican congress and that the economy was already recovering when Clinton came into office.).

Taxes don't permanently damage the economy- they can be lowered- and even in California, people reject huge tax increases.

3. Health care will remain private. Have you noticed how little Obama is talking about health care? His whole strategy is "McBush" nonsense. Why? Because people don't want DMV health care. Obama will increase SCHIP or some other program and leave everything else as it is. Chances are Obama won't have huge tax revenues to play with and saying that more government will reduce health care costs is like saying that all Brittney Spears needs is more cowbell.

A more credible Republican party will better counter the Democratic strategy of artificially raising health costs until people cry for the government to save them. Either way, it's just too huge a sector of the economy to change within the two-year window Obama will have.

4. Obama's Supreme Court justices won't be outright Communists. Abortion will still be legal and some minor rulings will weaken business and reduce the effectiveness of public safety officials, but nothing major.

5. Obama will waste money on preschool education and other programs. He may require that those preschool teachers be union members (because we know it takes a college degree to teach finger painting). Obama'll pass rules to enable union intimidation and help downtrodden trial lawyers, but, again, nothing permanent. Obama will pour our money down the UN sink, but it's just money, si?

6. Obama will realize that solar powered Mustangs don't go very fast and let oil companies drill, maybe raising their taxes or guarantee that new drilling require union labor or something. He'll also allow nuclear plants. The congress already gave up on the ban and don't want to go down for something as indefensible as not creating jobs and lowering gas prices for what is, essentially, a personal piety.

7. Limitations on economic freedom will stop at federal workplace rules outlawing perfume and employers having some kind of trans-vestite quota.

8. The transfer of wealth to already rich colleges in order to achieve Obama's dream of a sociologist on every block will allow for better campus gym equipment.

9. Europe will welcome not being made to feel wussies for being the only group of people on Earth willing to do everything possible to hasten its own destruction. Consequently, err...I don't know, but some people care about this stuff. Oh, I remember. So that we can count on France and Germany's support every time we decide to do nothing.

10. Iran and Russia will decide that eliminating corruption at home is a pre-requisite to regional conquest. Their clean up efforts will take five years.