I Should Care

Last time I said "It doesn't matter who gets elected, let's just get this over with," it was December 2000, and I was very very wrong. And yet I'm still having trouble getting invested in this election. Of course I desperately want a Democrat to win (though I know any Democrat who could get elected will break my heart), but basically I think the Democrats are all bearable and the Republicans all suck. I'm not naive enough to think the overwhelming suckiness of the Republicans means they don't have a chance--Republicans are like the Yankees: they have too much money and they always have a chance. But at this point the question is which Democrat, and that's where I'm having a hard time caring, and feeling kind of guilty about it.

The thing is, in 2007, anyone who could get to the point of possibly being elected president is so different from me that it's hard to get excited. They'll all just say whatever it takes to get elected, they're all in bed with big business, and they're all trying to be as careful and with the pack as possible. You can track the nuances if you want, and you can come up with rationales for one or another, but does it really matter?

And that's the point at which I slap myself across the face and say "don't go down this road again, these things matter," only it's really hard to figure out how and why they matter. Is Hilary too calculatingly unprincipled? Too toxic for a general election? Uh, yeah. Is Obama too inexperienced? Too passively entitled? Um, yup. Is Edwards too out of the loop? Too hypocritical? Probably. Is Richardson too far behind to make a difference? Likely. Are any of these dealbreakers? I have no idea.

At this point, I'm kind of sick of Edwards and leaning toward Richardson, but then would I be once again throwing away my vote? Do I wish I was still young and passionate and throwing myself into campaigns?

Eh.

For more useful political analysis, try here.

Edited to add: I didn't even realize that I was characterizing the candidates with negatives...that seems to say something about this campaign: it's about who's the least bad. Interesting, too, that my characterizations veer between presidentability (like that one? yesterday I invented protocolian) and electability, though I think that has to do with the lack of differences between the candidates.