From Where I Sit: Blood, sweat and Pat Buchanan: it’s just another primary election

If you are like most people, you probably have not given much thought to the primary election (where the party chooses their nominee) coming up next March, or the general election (where the country chooses the next President and Congress) next November.

Nevertheless, many of the campaigns have already started, battle lines are being drawn, issues starting to be raised, and us — the voters- still on the sidelines. Fear not! With a little thought and consideration, you too can maintain an awareness of what’s going on in your world, and impress your friends with random political trivia at the next party, to boot!

If you are a person of Democratic persuasion, it looks like there’s gonna be a little bloodletting before the primary. Vice President Al Gore and former New Jersey Senator and ex-New York Knicks player Bill Bradley are the main candidates.

Our lovable lug of a president, Bill Clinton, has been honing Al “Father of the Internet” Gore to be his successor, since he can’t run for another term. But that may just end up being the biggest problem for Vice Perpetrator: something you’re going to hear a lot more about in the coming months- Clinton Fatigue.

The fact is that folks are not exactly in love with drama, lies, and generally disgusting sleaze of the past eight years of the Clinton Administration. Some people are not has harsh as I am on the issue, but few are enamored with the idea of more of the Clinton-Gore era of politics.

As for Mr. Bradley, he is doing far better than Clinton-Gore ever dreaded, and is really starting to give Albert Gore a run for his money. However, his left-wing views may be troublesome for him if he tries to win over Clinton’s populist, politically wishy-washy and opportunist side of the party.

Moral of the story: Gore’s starting to sweat, because with Bradley doing so well the contest between the two will resemble the usually bloody battles of past Republican primaries.

If you are a Republican (and thanks to Clinton’s antics, more discontented Democrats are coming into the arms of Republicans), there is the usual custom of what seems to be about two million candidates vying for the party’s nomination.

Really, though, short of some major event, popular Texas Governor George W. Bush is the early favorite. He’s causing waves with his message of “compassionate conservatism,” which claims to show the smile on a philosophy Bush and others say has been misrepresented as being cruel and heartless.

His message seems to be resonating, and party activists are so thirsty for victory and moving on from Clinton-Gore that they will accept nearly anyone they think is a winner.

It remains to be seen, however, if Bush can successfully keep the conservative base of the party with him while appealing to the middle-of-the-road voters as well. Most of the eight other major GOP candidates are more outspokenly conservative than Bush, but are not experiencing the same success in their campaigns.

Moral of the story: If the Republicans go with Bush, he’s in a good position to win the presidency, but he will have to appeal to the party’s conservative base, unite the GOP’s factions, and attract moderate voters.

If you go for more of the fringe sort of candidate, there are plenty of miscellaneous folks running around, hoping you will support them in their quest for the presidency.

Pat Buchanan is threatening to run for the Reform Party ticket, and Donald Trump would like to do the same thing.

Actor and Director Warren Beatty, whose likely campaign motto would be “And you thought Clinton loved women!,” says the Democratic Party has gotten too conservative these days. Jesse “The Bigot” Ventura will not run, and Ross Perot is nasally declaring that he might consider running for the umpteenth time, if the people “want him to.”

Moral of the story: What’s next, Arnold Schwarzenegger thinking about running for California Governor? Oh yeah- too late, he already did.

Things are starting to shape up for the presidential race. But go ahead and get back to your midterms; you have a little while yet before any decisions have to be made.

Just remember to keep half an ear open to what’s going on, because in a matter of months the election season will be in full force, and you and I both will be faced with deciding how to address issues and candidates that will directly shape and affect our future.