THE IMPARTIAL OBSERVER
Matters of the Moment
Strange Bedfellows and Political Realities
Hank Eso
Friday 5 September 2008
The question is whether Americans will vote for a piggyback extension
of George Bush’s eight years in office by siding with McCain
or strike out and vote for Obama. Strange things can still happen.
The overworked cliché that politics make strange bedfellows has never been as validated as it is this year. More often than not, politicians seek to put their imprints on politics. As we have observed political realities are defining politicians and shaping how they behave and arrive at decisions. Such a paradox is most instructive. Clearly, recent happenings in American politics speak eloquently to how realities rather than beliefs and positions are defining decisions and outcomes. As such, this has been a febrile political summer replete with a muddle of motives.
Earlier this week, the Republicans with great flourish did the near unthinkable. They unveiled Alaska’s Governor Sarah Palin - a brand new politician as John McCain’s running mate. Ms. Palin was to be the GOP’s checkmate icon; but unbeknown to them, the clearly under-vetted Palin arrived with baggage - a baby, diaper bags, loads of inexperience, trooper-gate, and a prospective son-in-law and out of wedlock pregnancy that would promptly make her a grandmother in tow.
Furthermore, while she was a woman and therefore, fitted the gender bill, it was instantly clear that she was politically and otherwise, no Hillary Rodham Clinton. To many she seemed more of a liability. But don’t dare tell that to the GOP. Still, in her recent op-ed piece, the mother-of-feminism in America, Gloria Steinem said impenitently, “Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. … To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, ‘Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs.’" Go figure!
On 3 September, Gov. Palin, as if to discountenance every shortfall she was cited for, validated her “Barracuda” moniker, when she became the GOP’s attacked dog. Her feisty, pitbull and I-am-fit-to play-with-the-boys tough talk approach seemed to have worked magic for some. Then the realities set in. Her punch-bash-kick-whack and toe-to-toe approach reflected badly on the GOP in the polls and raised some instant cash for Obama. Along with that, came the awareness, that were her tag team to win in November, she would succeed Dan Quayle as the most nondescript VP. She was also under investigation for a possible abuse of her official position. And there was another numbing realization; even if she was an incidental, impulsive, incendiary, reckless and fatalistic choice by McCain, the imponderable consequences of her selection were discernibly dire.
Attractive and tempting as it is, this piece is not about Governor Palin. Rather, it is about how the US political landscape has been altered (political science students please note), and Americans have arrived at an unheralded juncture, where reactive and on-the-spur decisions trump reality and well-thought out political options.
Not long ago – it seems like ages—Obama touted “change” as his main political mantra, only to end up selecting Joe Biden, an inner Beltway veteran as his running mate, thanks to reality check. As if to outdo Obama, McCain plucked Palin, as if she was a homerun ball flying full throttle off the left field.
Then there was that strange mother-of-all-surprises. Joe Lieberman, having been dumped as the prospective Republican Party revenge and mainstream ticket candidate, made public his political schizophrenia. He proved that he was neither a democrat or an independent, nor a republican for that matter. He would have made history as the first candidate to be on the VP slot for the two major parties. Evidently, along with his conscience, he is like the wind, which blows where it wishes. I figure that he would always have or find a justification for bedding with the GOP, but where will he rest his senate laurels if his erstwhile Democratic Party colleagues win in November.
Whatever his motive or convictions were, Lieberman has become the embodiment of the old and tested cliché about politics making strange bedfellow. Senator Lieberman engaged in blatant doublespeak when he called Obama “inexperienced” and “untested”. Just in case he thinks the electorate has forgotten, wasn’t it the same Jolly Joe who said of Obama two years earlier, he “is a blessing to the United States Senate, to America and to our shared hopes for better, safer tomorrows.” My, how things change suddenly. Were Lieberman not in politics, his hopping in and out of bed with different political parties, running mates and partners, is a trait best suited for that older and not so honorable profession. As we say in Nigeria, Habaa Joe! Na wetin? Meanwhile, Lieberman will become the good example of a bad politician – a rolling stone bereft of any moss.
The twosome who may yet come out of the 2008 politics smelling of roses, are the Clintons. Beaten and stormed with shock and awe, they retreated, regrouped and thinking of their place in future, hopped on the Obama bandwagon. They, too, became strange bedfellows in Obamaland. As much as the Clintons have publicly rallied the troops for Obama, I should like to be their shrink or a fly on their bedroom wall. Irreverently, let me ask a question most people are still pondering: Are they really fully on board with Obama; or as Spike Lee would say, just poised to “Do the Right Thing”? Have they orchestrated a blameless loss leader and exit strategy for themselves, should Obama not win?
I consider the Clintons deserving of the benefit of our doubts. Let’s just accept, therefore, that they opted for self-preservation. Ironically, notwithstanding the niceties and the latter-day endearment they now show and profess for Barack Obama, their scathing words against him -- especially Hillary’s -- will resonate this fall as the Republicans use them it against the Democratic nominee. So too, will the negative assessments of Obama by Joe Biden. Yes, Biden is another veritable strange bedfellow. After saying very uncharitable things about Obama, it is interesting how quickly he recanted and joined the cause, when the fateful call came. Ouch! Where are the morals, ethics and principles in American politics?
This electoral season has been a season of self-serving criticisms and gratuitous condescension, too. Criticisms from both parties of Obama and Palin are frequently clothed with right wing and left wing excesses shrouded in convenient explications. Obama and Palin both represent newcomers to the American political landscape long dominated by the likes of McCain and Biden; hence, they do not fit into the identikit of candidates that have led America for over 200 years or their running mates.
Apropos
criticisms of Palin, many shout misogyny; and of Obama, many allude to racial
intolerance and superiority complex as driving his trenchant critics. How
strange does election-year polemics get? Listening to Senator McCain last night
as he accepted his party’s presidential nomination, one would have thought, for
a brief instance, that he was an American hero as well as a Democrat and in the
opposition.
As on outsider looking in, I have observed that much of the politicking on both sides, is just that; they are bereft of substance and geared at garnering votes. If not, how else can the Republicans chastise Obama for inexperience and then, as if struck by instant amnesia, turn around to pick a far more less experienced Palin?
I recall Mike Huckabee criticizing Obama for reaching out to the world and for speaking to a large crowd in Germany. Well, the Republicans, it seems, still do not get it. America’s global clout hinges on its grand alliance with its Trans-Atlantic partners, especially those Donald Rumsfeld once referred to as “Old Europe”. To America, the “New Europe” offers nothing more than exuberance and trouble, as Georgia proved recently.
There is also another point the Republicans don’t seem to get. America is a great country, however, for its president; the core constituency is no longer its fifty constituent states, but the world. Insularity is a past American phenomenon – not a prevalent variable when America is financially deeply indebted to China, its jobs reside abroad, its economy hamstrung and its military the involuntary global policeman. For America to seek to shake off or lose the world is to repudiate its soul and its greatness. Someone ought to tell them, that such a disposition is a luxury they cannot afford and that super-powership has its privileges and obligations, too.
Sound bites and visceral political rhetoric aside, reality bites. John McCain would likely inherit the mess in Afghanistan and Iraq, if he wins. Incidentally, these wars are not winnable in the short term. How will he deal with Iraq? In addition, how will he deal with Iran, which he does not wish to talk to? Well, Palin has glibly characterized Iraq, as “a task that is from God.” She also admits knowing little about the remit of the Vice President. Did I hear any criticism or clamor about on-the-job-training? The American electorate needs to bear this in mind when they vote. In the case of Obama, they need to know also that the white House is not a Hollywood set where you can do several takes of a scene until you get it right. So there are serious and hard choices to be made.
There is something else to bear in mind: while political rhetoric and sound bites may be pleasing to partisans, the promises, conclusions, and the our-party-knows best flourishes are never what they are cracked up to be. A president strong on domestic issues may be upended by foreign policy challenges, and vice versa. This is a moment of truth- with America uncovered – the electorate must now vote its conscience. The question is whether Americans will vote for a piggyback extension of George Bush’s eight years in office by siding with McCain or strike out and vote for Obama. Strange things can still happen. Tough question, but the reality.
If there is any certitude of this election year which is already dominated by political flip-flops, it is that nothing is exactly black, white, red or blue; issues easily assume different shades and coloration depending on the context and the polls. Really, biting reality like politics does make for strange bedfellows. These, indeed, are interesting rough and tumble times. The next sixty days will be very revealing.
With neither anger nor partiality, until next time, keep the law, stay impartial, and observe closely.
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Hank Eso is a columnist for Kwenu.com. His commentaries on Nigerian politics and global issues have appeared in The New Times (Lagos), African Profile International (New York), The Nigerian And Africa Abroad, (New York), African Market News (New Jersey) and in Gamji.com and Nigeriavillagesquare.com
© Hank Eso, Friday 5 September 2008.
Email: hankeso@aol.com