Posted by
Diane Michelle Gollaher on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 11:12:36 PM
There are always surprises in a campaign season. And this campaign season has been more surprising than any in recent memory. But the biggest surprise to me is not the mini-saga of Hillary v. Barack or the free-for-all republican fight to the death.
Rather, it is the caliber of the candidates themselves. Putting aside the ideological differences between the candidates and looking at them solely in terms of experience, character, authenticity and connection with the electorate, the majority of the candidates running are principled, intelligent and clearly care about the American people.
Whether exemplified in Mike Huckabee's promise to be part of the serving class, not the ruling class or John McCain's pledge to deliver "straight talk," the clear and undistorted truth that the American people deserve, or even in the detailed and thoughtful plans that the leading democratic candidates have put forward, one thing is clear - in this election season, Americans have several good choices and will likely end up with two very solid nominees from the democratic and republican parties.
This is tied up in the fact the many or the candidates are not "establishment" candidates, so to speak, but orginate from and represent the interests and concerns of their base and indeed of the American people. The majority of the candidates are not candidates of the backroom bosses, the business bigwigs or even the bloggers. They are America's candidates. And 2008 is America's year.
True, they are experienced. True, they understand how the levers of power operate. If they did not understand this, they could not serve effectively in the role of president. But they have not succombed to the temptation to elevate special interests or even powerful constituencies in their own parties above the needs of the people they are seeking to serve.
And that, my friends, is good news for America.