The Presidential Hopefuls - Will Things Change?

In the last twenty-five years there have been four presidents and countless other government representatives who have passed through the balloting process to attain office. The country - and the world - has gone through an evolution; the slowly changing process of life which creates change within the organism to better handle the environment it is going to pass through. Our planet is a living organism, comprised of numerous life-forms and life-cycles, all of which compete and coexist within the greater sphere of our globe.. and part of that change is accomplished through our growing awareness of the environs which we are a part of, and our understand and acceptance of the influences we have upon it - and it has upon us.

Part of this ever-changing process includes the semi-regular changing of governing bodies. Whether it has been a political or military coup, or the regular electoral process, the executive and legislative bodies of our government change to reflect the needs and desires of those within the country who speak out with their voting powers. Although turn-out over the past decades has declined in most general elections, there has still been a vocal few who continued to express opinions in order to help others understand more of the world around them, so that others might get involved more with the greater whole surrounding their lives. Unfortunately, it hasn't always worked well, and complacency runs rampant in the general populous.

But the trend is still there, when you talk to the average Joe Citizen on the street. Expressions of unhappiness and dissatisfaction with the "status quo" of government is a key element to most comments made when pressed with the questions. More people are speaking out now regarding their frustrations with the failures of government to provide what the people demand; they are tired of having one thing told to them in some speeches, and yet having nothing come to fruition when the same people are returned to office under those same broken promises of Change.

Right now in the presidential process, there are three main candidates. The Republicans have John McCain, who is probably the most experienced representative remaining in the main-player field. He has been called a "war hero" and has been a representative within the national legislature since 1982. Unfortunately this means he has been what is considered a "Washington Insider" since his first re-election. He has no other competition within his party's primary electoral process, so he is their candidate to succeed President Bush.

The Democratic Party still has a close race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Both of these candidates are relatively new to their active roles within the government - Clinton is in her second term as a representative for New York, and comes to that seat after having been the First Lady of Arkansas and the United States while her husband Bill was in the offices of governor and president.

She claims she is an advocate of change, but her history takes her into Washington as early as the Nixon Watergate scandal when she was one of the attorneys on the House Judiciary Committee investigating his impeachment, and was an appointee of Jimmy Carter for the United States Legal Services Corporation, a federal nonprofit program established to provide legal aid to the poor. So for over three decades, Clinton has been active within various appointed roles at the federal level, thus she is another "Washington Insider" with that experience and onus.

Barack Obama is the newest face on the national level. He is a first-time Senator, having just been elected four years ago after defeating Alan Keyes. Prior to that he was a representative in the Illinois State Senate, elected in 1996 and serving until his election to the US Senate in 2004. From the start, his political ambitions seem to be truly oriented towards the people, and not on partisan politics. He is the newest of the three at the national level, so isn't quite to that re-elected "Washington Insider" status as the other candidates. He is part of the next generation entering mainstream international politics; at 46 years old he is one of the youngest in the last century to run for office, compared to Hillary who turned 60 last Autumn, and McCain who is approaching 72.

So... with the apparent candidates we have to select, and the increasing disappointment with the promise of change from our past choices and selections, those three are what we are looking at; depending on how things fall out with the remaining Democratic Primaries, we will see either Obama or Clinton lead their ticket. The latest polls and primary results are showing Obama with a not-quite commanding lead, approximately 100 delegates ahead of Clinton. This late in the primary race, there are still roughly 600 delegates to be awarded, so the race is predicted to be tight right up to the end, and possibly still undecided until the Democratic National Convention in Denver late this Summer. With so much undecided still in their party, the fighting between the candidates has continued to intensify, each with their own verbal jabs at the other.

But it is still difficult to determine just who is standing for what, other than how each is trying to represent their stance on making the big changes our country is quietly screaming for. As pointed out above, though, there is only so much change to be expected from those who have become so entrenched in the political process within the Washington Beltway. Whether elected to a position by the people, or appointed into an office within the Great Government Machine, there is only so much to be expected from one who is comfortable in that environment already. And from their histories, two of these candidates appear to be quite comfortable already.

"Those who cannot learn from the past are doomed to repeat it," said George Santayana. And yet people look to the past, to those "good old days of yesteryear" with hopes of having the successes and accomplishments of generations before. Many look to the years that Ronald Reagan was in office as some of the best years in the last half-century. He was never considered an "Insider" while in the White House; he came to Washington after having been the Governor of California, but always had the cowboy-actor mentality behind his actions, so it seemed; he didn't play favorites on either side of the congressional aisle, and many believe he tried to govern as best he could for the benefit of all, and not just one opinion group or political party. The only other unifying moment the United States has had were the first months after the horrific attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon; but even that paled after a while, and the various decisions made by President Bush have not always been viewed as in the benefit of the nation, but rather some form of agenda.

Many feel that McCain will only continue the hard-line stance Bush has maintained, and perhaps even move more towards an aggressive stance against any perceived enemies to the country. In contrast, many feel that Clinton would attempt to return to the more hands-off "live and let live" approach that her husband seemed to espouse, and she would end up leaving our country open for another attack on our soil that could be as devastating as 9/11. Somewhere in the middle of this is Obama, who is the unknown variable when it comes to this contest. Although many feel John McCain could be "the next Reagan" - and are fairly certain that Hillary will be "just like Bill" - Barack Obama has shown his mettle throughout the contest so far, trying to maintain a fair and level approach through his campaign and not "lower himself" to the mud-slinging standards of campaigns past.

Is Obama the perfect candidate? Is anyone the "Perfect Candidate" at this point? For myself, I was not a supporter of Bill Clinton in 1992, but since he was elected, I followed him as Commander-in-Chief. It was at that point, with the economy slipping and the push by the Democrats at that time to want to completely run the country.. I figured it was time to give the parties their due; the Dems had the control, but lost the legislature in 1994 to the Republicans.. so with the GOP's "Contract with America" it then started their turn.. and they then took the reins further when Bush took office in 2001.. but then with the various crises and economic problems which have risen over the last eight years, the Republicans have slowly lost the confidence of the people, and tried to redirect efforts away from the problems most people have viewed as important to concentrate on the international issues.

The GOP has slipped, and the Democrats are poised to pick up the pieces again. But, too, the average American doesn't want to really have the "same ole" party politics all over again. Our country is in dire need of a change.. a TRUE change, something almost radical and revolutionary. This country deserves a true change, something "compleatly different" in true Pythonesque fashion. Obama may not be the best candidate.. but in the last quarter century of voting, almost every contest has come down to the lesser of two evils. It is entirely possible, however, based on the intelligence and integrity he has seemed to show so far in his campaign, he might be intelligent enough to get the best advisors possible, and the integrity to return our country on a forward path once again.

It is time for the general public to stand up and take notice of the world around them - not just the pathway from their front door to the Sunday paper lying on the ground before them, but their neighbors, their fellow countrymen, and the other countries around the world. Stand up and be noticed; stand up and be counted. Make this the new beginning that was promised to the people over fifteen years ago, and let's all work towards the change we truly want. Don't settle for the status quo once again.