© 2008 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.
I am weary of the question, “What will happen if (name a candidate) is elected our next president?” If it is Barack, more Americans will learn to spell his name. Someone will be elected and do things I like and some I will not, as was the case with George W. Bush.
The 24-hour news channels shout like there is a daily crash of a 747 when describing the presidential election. While I have a personal preference, nothing really bad will happen regardless of who is elected because we have three branches of government. This balance keeps one branch from having an overwhelmingly bad effect on the entire government.
If Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. or Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton or John Sidney McCain, III is elected he or she will have my best wishes as my president.
Using history, Obama or McCain are the odds-on favorites. Of the 43 presidents, fourteen had their father’s first name, as do Obama and McCain. Hillary does not have either her father or mother’s first name.
I am not twitterpated that it will be a first election for either a mixed-race president, a woman or a former prisoner of war. These kinds of descriptors do not matter to me in the least.
Obama is an unusual name, but so was the name of President Millard Fillmore. Presidents have had middle names like Quincy, Birchard and Gamaliel.
McCain does not use the suffix three. John Q. Adams was the third John Adams in a row while William Jefferson Blythe III (
Some presidents were tall, some short, some thin and some fat. Some were handsome and some were not. The cosmetic effect of the president disappears when the “flan hits the fan” and they have to really lead as president. At the point we cry out for leadership race, gender and age will not matter.
Don’t lose track of congressional races
The new president will bring his or her ideas to our continuing national discussion of what is the legitimate role of government in a free society. While the presidential election is important, do not lose track of the congressional races, since they make up one third of the government. And the Senate confirms Supreme Court appointees.
I envy other forms of government with shorter election cycles. Hillary has been running for president eight years while McCain has run for 10 years. Only Obama has been in a short cycle and he is the favorite. That should tell us something.
Obama’s initial success is not race-based as former vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro clumsily opined recently. It is more fundamental. He is different and he has fewer enemies in
This presidential campaign has brought out the worst in our society with “got-you” journalism. The correspondent says, “The Irrelevant News Team has just learned that John McCain faced an enormous fine in Third Grade for a library book four days overdue. He paid a reportedly substantial fine of 12 cents, a huge fine since he only got an allowance of 10 cents a week. More later on this important breaking story of a man who might become president, but will not if we reporters have anything to say about it.”
Since the next president will be of mixed-race parentage or a woman or a geezer we have all of the possible prejudices coming out. We must endure the hate mongers while good citizens are subjected to this vitriol. I delete hate e-mail with quick mousemanship.
Hillary must convince us she has the leadership quality of Margaret Thatcher and Golda Meir, two former female heads of state who did well. Obama must convince us that he has a plan for government rather than just being a sound-bite person, long on style and short on substance. McCain must convince us that he can hold on to both his mind and temper for at least four years.
The real question
The real question for candidates: Can you grow into the job? No president starts his or her presidency with real presidential ability. They grow into it. Or not. Lincoln became a great president with his character and the challenges he faced.
Some presidents fell prey to personal demons. Nixon had paranoia. For Clinton, Kennedy, Franklin Roosevelt and Jefferson it was sex. The campaign of 1804 was about Thomas Jefferson fathering five children with his slave Sally Hemings.
When someone is elected president, the clock starts. If elected to two terms he or she has 2,922 days to make changes for our country. Then the clock stops.
Balance the presidential election coverage with the realization that the winners gets a maximum of eight years, while those elected to Congress and those appointed to the Supreme Court will be around for decades. Congressional elections are more important. And Supreme Court appointments are the most important.
We must balance the presidential election coverage with the reality of our three-branch government.
Swickard is a weekly columnist for this site. You can reach him at michael@swickard.com.