Old, White and Irrelevant .

Of course the Republican party looks old, white and irrelevant in this 21st century, but it wasn't planned that way. The condition it finds itself in started in the nineteen sixties like the mythical flutter of the butterfly wings. My peers, who are not. as my wife fervently points out, part of the baby boom generation, were upset with our younger brothers and sisters who embraced the Drugs, Sex and Rock n' Roll culture. Some of us have been waiting for them to pay for their misdeeds, but, unlike what we had raised to believe, mom and dad never did make them truly answer for their adventures. Not only was this disappointing in the sense that secretly we knew they were having more fun, it was also defaming our values and mores.

Some of us, have never forgiven our parents and our siblings for this disappointment. It was like getting to the gates of heaven and finding out that all of the things you had been told were wrong as it turned out made no difference at all. Imagine finding out that Mother Theresa was no better than Broadway Joe. The malcontents and angonizers are called Conservative Republicans and they refer to the rest of us by various labels, but mostly we are liberals with some kind of pejorative associated.

This election maybe noteworthy in that it could be the last audible scream of that demon that lives in the mind of those kids that behaved in the sixties and it's anger with the kids that didn't. The sheep's cloak has been coming of this wolf ever so slowly. But the betrayal of the Republican party and a true conservative movement is so corrupt that it is no longer impossible to ignore. Social conservatives motivated by ultra conservative religious factions have fueled an intolerance in the political arena that is unprecedented in modern politics. It is so narrow as to exclude even worthy followers, such as Mitt Romney, for not being sufficiently Christian and John McCain for not being Conservative enough. Either one of these guys policies is enough to make a true progressive gag, but for the true believers they are not pure enough.

And that is why the spotlight is now shinning on the Campaign of John McCain. McCain is a war hero, stalwart Senator from Arizona, and a guy that gave the Bush administration fits with his observations of their incompetence in the handling of the Iraq War. He has been a man who can transcend partisanship and get things done. He was even mentioned as a possible running mate for John Kerry on what would have amounted to a coalition ticket against George Bush in 2004. He's the "straight talking', John Wayne like figure that a lot of independents like and he is going to be formidable competition for whomever prevails on the Democratic side of the ticket. But his problem is that to get the wholehearted support of his party he's going to need to sound like one of them and if he doesn't he will suffer the same fate as George Bush I and Bob Dole. The get-out-the-vote Christian right will not perform and his fate will be in the hands of the independent voters.

In any other election, that might be enough, but unfortunately this election has a true phenomenon in the person of Barak Obama, who also has wide appeal amongst independent voters and has made the mending of our divisions the corner stone of his campaign. As McCain makes his way to the right of his party, gets the nomination and than inevitably tracks toward the center, he will be spotlighted like a prisoner crossing the barbwire zone of a maximum security prison in the middle of the night. The only thing that can foul up this plan is to nominate the only person that can get right wing conservatives to vote no matter who their party nominates, Hillary Clinton. While this is regrettable, because I think she would make and excellent President, I would not want to risk the chance to hobble the far right movement in this country by playing into their hands strategically.

This is the Democrats moment, but they must make good use of it. Wanting leadership and being a leader is two different things. I'm sorry, you can win a nomination of your party, run a competent campaign and win the office, but that does not mean you're a leader. I present the George Bush II as my proof. Obama or Clinton, (I will vote for her if she wins the nomination) must build a coalition of the center and force the radical wings of the parties to co-operate or shut up. The Democrats are discussing the value issues that effect all of us. Health care, education, jobs and repairing this nations infrastructure are things that all of us can benefit from. If they don't keep their eye on the ball and get re-involved in partisan bickering the Republicans may lose the battle but the War may still be lost.