Indiana’s primary isn’t until May, so my vote likely won’t matter by then, but as I’ve been kicking this around, I’ve come to the following conclusion:
Who I vote for doesn’t matter. Who wins in November doesn’t matter. The next president is doomed. He (and I say “he” because I don’t think Hillary Clinton has a snowball’s chance in hell of winning the general election) will spend 4 years trying to clean up an un-cleanable mess and lose a re-election bid in 2012. I’d just as soon McCain or Romney tank their careers, leaving a 8-to-16-year window for the Democrats to recover.
What I want from a president — something I got occasionally from Clinton and Reagan, — is not (necessarily) an experienced leader, an anti-war moderate, but rather someone who can inspire. I want to think that real, substantive change is possible. Call it naive, call it wishful thinking, call it whatever you want — I WANT TO FEEL GOOD AGAIN.
I know I’m not alone in this, but eight years of the Bush Administration have left me too beaten, too broke, and too exhausted to fight what feels like a battle that can’t be won.
I want to leave children behind; it’s natural selection.
I want teachers to be treated and paid as though they are professionals, not babysitters.
I want the United States military to stop serving as playground monitors for the Middle East.
I want the standard of living to go up, even if it means the cost of living rises with it.
I don’t want to feel like Sisyphus anymore.
The candidate who fits most of my criteria is already out of the race, but for inspiration, the bits and pieces I heard from Barack Obama (mostly before the campaign began) lead me to think that he’s as close as I’m going to come this go-round to inspiration.
At least until Evan Bayh decides to run…