The Great (Democratic Party) Delusion of 2008.

Every four years a strange ritual takes place in America. It's called the Great Democratic Party Delusion. That is the time when the members of the Democratic Party bring out their next would-be John F. Kennedy and polish him up, with the help of liberal-loving, God-hating, hypocritical Hollywood, and throw him out for the people to admire and vote on. This season is no different.

Barrack Hussein Obama is a great speaker. He is also, I am sure, a very decent, caring, loving family man too, and a credit to Americans as well everywhere. But he lacks substance. As such, this man, who may be ready to lead the USA in the future, is little more than the poster-boy of political-correctness and the liberals everywhere. His victory over Hillary Clinton, a woman with far more experience and skill, in the Democratic primary, though convincing, was shallow and probably more an expression of the rank-and-file to elect the first person of colour to run for the presidency, than a person who is truly capable of running the country.

Obama's agenda, which is still nebulous, appeals to both the left-wing of his party, and those undiscrening voters who love a good speech over real policies. In a country that remains solidly conservative and strongly capitalistic, this is not a plan for victory but political suicide as November, 2008 will reveal.

As such, Obama can no more deliver 'hope' (which seems to the main plank in his platform) than he can bring about the second coming. Offering "hope" is cheap politics at its best and the one great thing the Democrats are known for. The problem is that there is not a citizen of a democracy, anywhere, that doesn't cast his ballot with at least some 'hope' that their candidate will not only win, but also make things better.

As such, the Platform of Hope, while it has no political cost, is weak and flimsy. In the end, it is also a lousy and rather pathetic platform to run a campaign for the highest office in the land on; unless, of course, that is the only thing you can offer, aside from higher taxes and more government intervention.

Hope is also what Bill Clinton promised in 1992 and after eight years of dithering and stop-start foreign policy disasters, people have forgotten that his years in office ended with a stock market collapse (ie. the tech bubble burst), the Enron/Worldcom scandals, sexual affairs, an impeachment, and, finally, the tragic events of 9/11 - which were a direct result of his unwillingness give more than token military responses to groups like al-Qaeda. If it wasn't for the Republican controlled Congress, Clinton might have done even more trouble. But all that gets brushed under the table now that the newest saviour of the Democratic party has appeared!

This is why I don't lose any sleep over an Obama victory that the press would have everyone believe is all but inevitable. Neither should anyone else either. Obama, like John F. Kerry, and like Al Gore before him, will go down to defeat as certainly as it snows in May in Calgary.

Senator John McCain will trounce him in the presidential debates, and beat him in the popular and Electoral College by a decent margin come November. Part of that is because the senator from Arizon has experience and skill, the other part is due to his sheer guts and some clever maneuvering by the GOP during their recent convention.

The Republicans, with Independent/Democrat Joe Lieberman's help, have successfully shifted the debate from "age" to experience, character, and patriotism; themes which play well in the post-9/11 world. And while I do not doubt that Obama is both a patriot and has a fine character, he lacks what all democrats lack, and tht is substance and a firm plan to make those 'hopes' and promises a reality.

Americans know they cannot afford a "Doctor Feel-Good-About-Ourselves" president, they need one that can ensure their security, their liberty, and their prosperity durng a difficult and dangerous time in world history. Being the 'nice guy' in on a planet full of hoodlums can only take you so far, as the Clinton years demonstrated that. Now-a-days, it is better to be the guy with the big stick, with a proven track record of using it, than the guy who goes around begging people to 'please like me,' which basically explains American foreign policy in the years before President George W. Bush.

Since then, the USA has become more feared and more powerful than ever. It has kept degenerate regimes like the Iranians, the North Koreans in line and took out one spoke in the "Axis of Evil," Iraq; setting and it, and Afghanistan (after several fits and starts) on the road to becoming civilized, democratic (if not totally free) states. It has forged a new alliance with India to check-mate Chinese expansionism and is creating a careful net around old Russia, to contain her growing ambitions and thwart a possible new Cold War.

The Democrats, and Obama, however, would have the American public believe that America has failed in every way. History, however, has and will prove them wrong. Being a pacifist is no more valid today than it was during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, and retreating from a fight almost won, a disaster that will make Vietnam seem tiny by comparison.

As for Republican vice-presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, the choice of her as McCain's running mate is electric if not ingenious, and shows just what kind of a self-determined maverick the next American president will be and is. Who would have thought that Alaska can produce the first woman vice-president and possible future president when she goes up against Hillary Clinton in the next four to eight years?

Her being a woman effectively ties the hands of Democratic Vice-Presidental nominee Joe Biden and effectively quashes all questions about the women's rights not being respected by conservatives. Here she is, a woman, a right-wing Republican, and a gun-carrying 'redneck' from ALASKA, running for the second-highest office in the USA!

Palin, therefore, is the anti-Hillary, the quintessential outsider; a woman who stands against everything the liberal-left hold dear. She is, in short, the Democrats worst nightmare; a strong, powerful, intelligent, GOVERNOR of the leading gas/oil producing state in the Union, someone who hates abortion, loves her husband and family, and yet remains feminine, attractive, and every inch a woman, too.

What can Biden offer against that? Experience? As what? He's a senator and, IMHO, a rather polarizing one too? That no-more qualifies him to run the government in the event of the president's death than it qualifies a shoe-shine boy for running Nike because their president died. At least Palin has executive experience and a record of accomplishment. Biden has a record, too, and, if I am correct, it is one of obstructionism and blatant pandering to the left-wing of his part. If that is "leadership," then God help the United States indeed!

Furthermore, Biden can't attack her character, either, as she represents the best in American women, too. She is, very much, a hockey/soccer mom, the kind of middle-class woman that all women see themselves as being and which the Democrats need to win in November. Therefore, anything Biden says about her becomes potentially very explosive. One slip, one hint of condescension towards her, and poof, the Democrats lose the women's vote, the Hillary Democrats, and the election as well.

Ultimately, however, this election, like the one in 2000, is really all about optics and style, not substance. Obama, on some level knows this and so he will try to create the latter while offering plenty of the former. McCain, on the other hand, has plenty of the latter; his choice of Palin, however, gives him some of the former, too, and provides a very strong touchstone for people looking for change yet unwilling to give up the security of a proven, experienced leader as well.

So, even though most of the liberal press, including that wanna-be Canadian, Michael Moore (sorry, please keep him...and get him on a diet!), will scream to the rafters about how 'American's want change' and will vote for Obama, they will only be partially right. They will get change but the kind of managed change that gives them both new leadership and a strong sense of continuity too; something only McCain can provide.

That is why the senator from Arizona will win and why the senator from Illinois will lose. It is why Palin will win, why America will win, and the world will win too. Despite the cries of people like Moore and other liberals and liberal-wannabes, Americans will choose the best leader for their country and it will be John McCain

Unlike the Democrats and their left-wing allies, the average US voter knows the consequences of choosing the wrong person. They understand that in the times we are living in, the cost of going from a man of substance to a man of dreams can be deadly and tragic beyond words. That is the lesson of the Clinton Era and Administration and one they will not forget easily.

In a week, America and the world will, once again, be reminded of that cost as it remembers the events of September 11, 2001. On that day, the choice the US voter faces will stand in sharp contrast to the empty promises and nice words uttered by Obama and the Democrats. And in the coming months, as US and NATO forces close in on that satanic fiend Bin Laden, and whittle away at the Taliban, they will also see the one who can lead them to final victory as well. And that man, as Joe Lieberman, the Democratic Party nominee for Vice-President in 2000 said during the Republican convention, is John McCain.

Sincerely,
I.M. Ulysses.