First let me do or give an outright declaration of where my loyalties lie (get the pun?) before assorted loonies of the Far-right (read SS,MNS,BJP etal) or the ridicuolus Left-wing (CPM, CPM-ML, CPI, Arundathi Roy etal) start throwing stones at my house and question my patriotism (Dude, you just can't speak your mind in India nowadays- the country's going to dogs..) I AM INDIAN, I LOVE INDIA, I own an Indian Passport and even though I try to avoid remembering -P.P. (Pratiba Patil ) is my president. Well with that out of the way - let me get back to my post.Like all educated (and propah) Indians I have been watching the US Presidential Elections with considerable interest from the land of far, far away, viz. India. And the whole Primary thing looks a lot like something scripted in Hollywood land - remember the recent screen-writers strike?- where do you think they went?. The candidates are not only interesting - they are even articulate ( welcome change from Indian politicos). The Bill, Sorry Hillary Clinton Vs. Barack Obama match-up is sure something you can sit down to watch with assorted snacks and pop-corn.
The most recent match-up between the proxy general Bill Clinton and the defender of the hopeful - Obama brought to mind instantly two cult movie characters. Barack Obama - like Will Smith in the movie "I am Legend"- is the eternal optimist; offering himself up (to be eaten) as a sacrifice to all the (ev) ills of society - but I am not sure that it would work against these set of zombies. The Neo-conservatives- read the new mutants- of America are going to be hapy to just gobble him up with no cure being effected. The Republican prty machine would digest him and just go on as if nothing significant occured- America would still remain the land of the walking dead. Instead if you really needed a guy to defend you against flesh eating monsters are you gonna feel happy getting a wise-crackin, hope-spewing nice-guy scientist like Will Smith? Damn you dont.....
You and I would need ( feel a lot safer) - that tough guy, Cigar-chomping, ass-kicker Col.Dutch of the Movie "Predator" ( remeber Arnie Schwarznegger?). That's a MAN you can trust to beat the shit outta Predators, Aliens, Mutants, and assorted evil-doers. BUT, Arnie's not running this time (Run Arnie, Run..) . And thankfully there is a look-alike in the Democractic Party - Senator Hillary Clinton- with the same steely-eyed glint, the "I Know it all" trust me baby confidence, the been there seen it all experience and a truted wise side-kick to boot- the Yoda like Bill Clinton. Ther's a Candidate who can take all that the conservative establishment can dish out and not cry at what could have been. If it all goes wrong- as it sometimes is bound to happen- the free world would be happy to know that the keys of the nuclear briefcase are in the hands of someone who uses more than just intuition to make her/his decisions.
And her's the clincher - the elctability issue. If a woman can survive 30 something years of being married to Bill Clinton - well, she can run rings around, Russia, Iran, Bin Laden and all the rest. And if she feels even half-way exhausted and feels like slacking off - the sight of Bill Clinton hovering over the breakfast table should be enough to fuel all that rage into doing something for the legacy. The USA made a big mistake in '92- electing the wrong Clinton and now its time to correct it.
Especially, when the Republicans have finally turned smart enough to offer up someone like Sen.John McCain - a Detective John McClain (Bruce Willis in Die-Hard) like Character - who keeps fighting and re-inventing himself- every time he runs for President - which is just about every time the elections come or every 4 years -whichever is earlier.
To come back to Obama - he looks a genuinely nice guy, something like a beauty pageant contestant accidentally pitch-forked into a martial-arts tourney. But if he is so touchy -sensy-feely like his wife Michelle says he is (supposed to have threatened that he'd run only this one time) - then he wouldn't last the distance. Voters expect a John Rambo type of Politician - who just takes the time to lick his wounds before coming back again and again. They should want it, really want it -before they get it. After all - it is the top job in a demo-crazy......
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