2008 and the New JFK Era

It has been said that those who lived in politics during the Vietnam era will be fighting Vietnam for the rest of their lives. The same is perhaps true of the Iraq war. Every Senate and House Republican and Democrat will be fighting the Iraq war, or the ghost of it, for the rest of their political life. Thus, quite a specter has been cast upon the 2008 Presidential Elections. Among the top contenders for their party's nomination in 2008 are Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) . Each of these men and women are aptly qualified for the top job in our country. Senators Clinton and McCain are respectively the most prominent two politicians in America save for Bill Clinton and George W. Bush (in that order).

However, with a changing national climate, especially in regards to the unpopular Iraq war, candidates such as these may not make it past the people's 2008 litmus test - Why didn't you try to stop the war from happening? Why did you support it?

In 2008, America will be ready to look beyond the men and women of whom they are tired of - the men and women who initiated and managed the war. The country, no longer afraid of terrorism, wants the war to be over -and then they want good jobs, affordable medication and healthcare, and privacy. For these solutions, the people of the United States will look to a new generation of politicians for leadership, discarding the old.

In 2004, the climate was nearly right. If not for the Iraq war, Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) would've almost assuredly sailed into the Democratic nomination, and then past George W. Bush and into the Presidency with his promise of ending the "Two Americas" system, his roots that come from the real American people, and his wit and charm.

Due to the war, and that Democrats were going up against a Republican "war president," they nominated instead John F. Kerry (D-MA), a man with the credentials of a war hero when the country needed one. Unfortunately for Democrats (and the country) John Kerry did not fight his campaign with the same veracity as when he fought in Vietnam.

The New Guard

With the popular politicians such as Hillary Clinton and John McCain being discounted as being part of the last generation, who then stands as a front runner in the 2008 elections?

In recent months rising star Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has been commanding large crowds and wowing not only voters across the country, but the media as well, capturing the hearts and minds of Americans in the process. Having taken office in 2002, Obama is exempt from being blamed for the Iraq war, and has the luxury of being able to say that he has been a critic of the war since its inception. Unfortunately, his ethnicity is the only factor that holds him back. The defeat of Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D) in the Tennessee senate race proves that racism is alive and well in US politics.

Also, on the Democratic side, former Senator John Edwards is still in a favorable position to take leadership of the party. With his youth, optimism, he is a hard man not like. He does carry the liability of having voted for authorization for the President to have gone to war, however, by simply apologizing for it and saying that he was wrong, Republicans were unable to hang Iraq around his neck. In addition, he has been out of office since 2004; and in 2008, he will appear as a fond memory of the man who many voters whish was on the top of the ticket in 2004. With a recent boast from gay-basher and hater of freedom everywhere, Ann Coulter, indeed, John Edwards can still very well be the man who America is looking for.

Also, it is unlikely that his religions background should play a major role in his campaign, unless when questioned about his family's faith he responds that his mom makes good pork chops and says something about a ham sandwich.

On the Republican side of the fence, the number one contender with national or even international name recognition and no ties to the war in Iraq is former New York City mayor, Rudolph Giuliani. Despite declining to run against for statewide office due to personal scandal, Giuliani, "the rock of New York," as he was called by the British media after September 11^th, remains popular among many Republicans, independents, and even some Democrats.

Former Massachusetts governor Willard Mitt Romney, who was popular in his state, but was term limited, would have a huge advantage in an open field. Not only can he distance himself from the war in Iraq, but he can point to his experience as six years of executive experience, where his liberal policies expanded health care, providing it to almost all residence of the commonwealth, he is pro-life, pro-environment, liberal on educational funding (though traditionally conservative on virtually all other education issues, such as charter schools and vouchers), and is pro-stem cell research. Romney's fiscal policies also turned a $3 billion deficit into a $500-$700 million dollar surplus.

In Mitt Romney, the Republicans have a potential candidate who the Democrats would have a difficult time defining themselves against. The only question that remains is, is Romney too liberal to win a Republican nomination, or would Republicans embrace him as their candidate based on his ability to win a general election?

Romney does have the ability to run strong against democrats. In 1994 Romney fought a hard campaign against popular Sen. Edward Ted Kennedy, and gained 41% of the vote. Kennedy's 17% margin of victory was his smallest since originally taking office in 1962.

Though early straw polls show that more nationally recognized leaders that the public is on a first-name-basis with - Hillary and Rudy - are "front runners" in the 2008 presidential election, and though party insiders have been looking to leaders who have experience in defense and foreign relations such as Joe Biden, the 2008 election cycle belongs to a new generation.

Just as John F. Kennedy ushered out the old generation and conceived a new era of hope and a brighter future for all Americans, so shall the next president of the United States, be he Christian or Mormon, black or white, be his name Edwards, Romney, Giuliani, Obama or some other new rising star, the next President of the United States will follow in the footsteps of JFK. Just don't expect the names Clinton or McCain to win in a general election.