Real City Reality Check for Winners and Wannabees

It is not for gusting winds that Chicago enjoys its identity as the Windy City, but for long-winded and boastful politicians. Seven Democratic candidates for president kept the epithet in tact last night as they debated before 15,000 Chicagoans with union cards at Solder Field. As if the hot air of the politicians were not enough, all of this took place amid sweltering heat and oppressive humidity.

The ProConPundit, much to the criticism of blog readers and advisors, has taken a couple of months off the monotonous drip by drip of the 2008 campaign. The Chicago event last night jump started my interest in this pre-mature political season. The debate was moderated by MSNBC’s sanctimonious, Keith Olbermann. The ProConPundit is no fan of Olbermann. His "Special Comments" on his cable show Countdown are billed as though they are something noteworthy when they are, in fact, tirades that seldom allow facts to be obstacles to his propaganda. The ProConPundit also resents his nightly on-air sign off, "Good night and good luck." That line was the nightly sign-off of CBS icon, Edward R. Murrow, who was the predecessor of Walter Cronkite, well before, incidentally, the time of the ProConPundit. To borrow Murrow’s line EVERY night is Olbermann’s signal that he has really nothing to say.

Olbermann learned last night that you may be able to tell town hall folk in New Haven or polite people in at USC Columbia to please withhold their applause or jeers–but not in Chicago. In a town where our architecture and our pizza matches our personalities: delicious, friendly, bold and rough edged, 15,000 union card holders would not be told when they could express themselves. It was a great debate. And the pols, none of them really Chicagoans, were not very long winded.

Hillary began her remarks with a touching word about how her late father, a die-hard Bears man would have been thrilled to have his daughter on the 10 yard line at Soldier Field. It was a nice touch. Obama, in trying to compete with Hillary for hometown status welcomed everyone to Chicago. That was gracious except that he was addressing 15,000 Chicagoans.

The problem with the Democratic field are the candidacies of Barack Obama and John Edwards. With each additional word that comes out of their mouths they show themselves to be increasingly silly and not competent to be president at this perilous time in our history. The trouble with them is that neither has a chance of beating Hillary Clinton yet they are taking up space and depriving top tier status to others who are, in fact, competent, and would stand a better chance of taking out Hillary.

Like them or not, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd, and I like Biden and dislike Dodd, are competent, serious and ready to lead this nation. They don’t pop off with sound bites and simplistic solutions to complex problems as do Obama and Edwards. Biden, Dodd, and Clinton all rightly chided Obama for his dangerous and imbecilic blather about bombing Pakistan. Yes, he wants to bomb Pakistan, right after he has quiche with Castro, Chavez and Ahmadinejad. Meanwhile, he has both the audacity to hope and not answer a direct question honestly. He was asked whether he, if president, would welcome Barry Bonds to the White House. Can you say duck?

Barack Obama really seems to be clueless as to how much of a pawn he is of the Clinton machine. He is holding the space they want him to hold: keeping anyone else from taking a swipe at her. When the others have been picked away, they will squash him like a bug. Obama, incidentally, not a bad guy but the only serious election he has ever won was against Alan Keyes. He is in way over his head. Meanwhile, his wife, Michelle keeps doing interviews talking about what kind of First Lady she would be. Keep your day job, ma’am.

Those of you who know the ProConPundit know how much it pains me to say this because I really don’t like her and I really, really don’t want her to be the president. However, Hillary Clinton is running a brilliant campaign. When she stands up there with six men, excluding Obama and Edwards all serious, knowledgeable, and capable, she hold her own and rises above them. Obama will have future runs, this is not his time. Edwards is all hair. Dodds and Biden are blatantly campaigning to be Hillary’s running mate or Secretary of State, often agreeing with her during debates. Richardson and Kuchinich are serious and knowledgeable but going no where.

Put out of your head the notion of a Clinton-Obama ticket. Like her husband, her running mate will not be out of friendship or dues paying or who they most trust. It will, like everything else the Clinton’s do, be a totally self-serving political equation. She has no need of Obama on the ticket. She does not need any more minority than she already has in being a women and heavily favored by the black community. Sorry Biden and Dodd, you can’t delivery anything the Clinton’s don’t already have. Watch for Richardson to be her running mate–he brings regional and Latino appeal. If there is such a thing as a white, male, Southern, Democrat, I’d watch for that.

All of this said, at this time four years ago Howard Dean looked unbeatable and the presumed DOA John Kerry rose out of the ashes. So anything is possible. It is looking increasingly like a Democratic victory next year. However, at this time in 1991, President George H. W. Bush seemed so unbeatable that better known Democratic candidates like Gephardt and Gore decided to take a pass and let lesser known Paul Tsongas and Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown and even lesser known Bill Clinton make fools of themselves. So the games are really just beginning. But Republicans, come on, you’re going to need to find a winner if you want to lead the way.