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Power Rankings are Dead, Long Live Power Rankings
By Jeff Fecke | November 4, 2008
It’s been a long time since we’ve done these, but since I won’t get another chance to do this for the 2008 cycle, it’s time to play Power Rankings. Let’s go!
1. Sen. Barack Hussein Obama II, D-Ill. (Last Rank: 1)
What a long, strange trip it’s been. Five years ago, unless you were a big follower of Illinois politics, you probably had never heard of this guy. Four-and-a-half years ago, he was the guy who was probably going to lose to Blair Hull in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary in the Land of Lincoln. But Hull — who the Democrats had recruited because he was rich, and vaguely moderate — turned out to have abused his ex-wife, and ended up imploding. Obama won the primary, and — I’m not sure how — got the keynote spot at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
And the unknown Illinois state senator proceeded to give one of the most consequential speeches in American history.
If you saw the speech, you knew right away that he was going to be something special. In my wrap-up of the night — presciently entitled “The Next President of the United States” — I said:
The Illinois Democrat justified the lofty hopes the Democrats placed on him by annointing him keynote speaker; he delivered the finest keynote since Cuomo’s “Shining City on a Hill” speech in 1984. Yes, it’s better than Ann Richards’ “Silver Spoon in Mouth” speech in ‘88. Better by far.
It’s not just that he nailed the delivery, or that he had that combination of oratory skill and charisma that has popped up rarely enough (and not at all in candidate for president, with the possible exception of Vermin Supreme).
No, it was that Obama was telling a uniquely American tale, his tale–and he knocked it out of the park.
It was an amazing introduction to America, and I think many people felt like I did, that “twenty years from now, we’ll still be talking about Sen. Obama, Chairman Obama, Secretary Obama, or (dare I say it? I dare.) President Obama.”
It was a huge gamble for Obama to enter the race for the presidency against a strong, organized, well-funded rival like Hillary Clinton. He was young, and he wasn’t “waiting his turn.” But Obama — like an earlier young senator who sought the presidency out of turn — knew that America will pick hope over experience every time.
I believe he will win today. But I also believe that Obama’s ultimate victory against the Clinton campaign, a campaign that was itself one of the most formidable ever assembled, was the more astounding feat. Hillary Clinton ran a tough, unrelenting campaign against Obama, one that forced him to squeeze every ounce of effort out of his supporters and his campaign. For that, Obama owes Clinton a debt of gratitude. The Jeremiah Wright ad that popped up with barely a ripple over the weekend could have been the October Surprise, if it hadn’t come up in March. Clinton made Obama a better candidate than he was in 2007. And Obama did the same for Clinton. It is said, and I agree, that the two leading candidates for the Democrats this year are better than the candidates we had in 2000 and 2004, and possibly better than the guy we had in ’92 and ’96. But neither would have been as good without the other.
Obama will almost certainly win tonight, and he will make history, and not just because he’s an African-American. But the tougher part — the actual governing — is coming soon enough. I believe that Obama is up to the task. I hope my faith is not misplaced. For Obama has been right — hope is all we have to invest in politicians. I have invested it in him, more perhaps than any politician I’ve supported. For the good of the country my daughter will inherit, I hope that my hope has not been misplaced.
2. Sen. John Sidney McCain, Jr., R-Ariz. (LR: 2)
If Obama’s meteoric rise is strange, McCain’s precipitous fall has been heartbreaking. After losing in 2000 to George W. Bush, McCain was well-respected on both the left and right. Oh, sure, he was a conservative, but he was a conservative you could respect, one who seemed to be aware that his opponents were not evil, one willing to reach across the aisle, to find common ground. If that John McCain had shown up to face Barack Obama in this election, we might have had a truly great campaign, one that pitted ideology against ideology, one that showed both parties at their best.
John McCain’s political life flashed before his eyes last year. And he won the GOP nomination almost by default, more because Mitt Romney was too plastic, Mike Huckabee too populist, and Rudy Guiliani too creepy than because McCain was just right. He laid low as Obama and Clinton hit each other hard, content to let the Democratic race play out.
When it was over, McCain had a choice: run an upbeat, positive campaign, or run a hack-and-slash race. McCain chose the latter, an attack centered around Obama’s lack of experience. And that might have worked, if McCain hadn’t decided to throw the base a bone with the choice of Sarah Palin as his veep. That undermined McCain’s central argument, as Palin was less experienced than Obama, and clearly McCain thought her ready for the presidency, at least in theory.
After Palin, McCain’s campaign spiraled further and further into the muck, going from the bizarre celebrity attacks of the summer to accusing Obama of palling around with terrorists by October. It was a very conventional campaign, one purely based on personal attacks and issue attacks so hilariously over-the-top as to be useless. Obama ultimately came through the campaign with the highest favorables of a presidential candidate in generations. McCain’s reputation has been destroyed.
When he loses tomorrow, McCain will go back to the Senate, but it won’t be the same. The Maverick will have become a bitter partisan, no longer a bipartisan darling, but a Republican stooge. McCain will have an opportunity to rebuild his reputation by working with President Obama, perhaps on a comprehensive immigration bill. And he may be able to get himself to the Bob Dole level — an affable guy who people mostly like once he’s out of office. But it is doubtful that he will ever truly be as liked as he was before this race. And that was his decision.
3. Ralph Nader, I-Conn. (LR: 8)
Ralph Nader will probably finish third tomorrow. I’m not quite sure how; inertia, I suppose. Bob Barr has angered a lot of Libertarians, or so I hear, and nobody realizes that Cynthia McKinney is running. And frankly, I think a lot of potential McKinney supporters are backing Obama, because…well, it’s been a long eight years, and better the imperfect lefty than four more years. The really deluded will vote for Nader, and they’ll be idiots, but whatever. It’s not going to be close enough to matter. It isn’t 2000. And Nader is a sad shadow of his former self. He’s managed to make himself irrelevant. Hooray.
4. Rev. Chuck Baldwin, C-Fla. (LR: 6)
Do you think Baldwin could be the difference maker in Florida? Neither do I. The guy who beat Alan Keyes may not overcome Barr, but he’s got more mojo than the thinly mustached one.
It should be noted, of course, that Baldwin is completely and utterly insane. As is everyone in the Constitution Party; I think it’s a requirement for membership. He does have the endorsement of Ron Paul, so I expect some Paulbots to back him up. If nothing else, this could be the best moment for the Constitution Party ever, if a sub-1%, zero electoral vote outcome can be considered the best.
5. Fmr. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, GP-Ga. (LR: 4)
I’m not quite sure what happened to McKinney. She’s been low-profile even for a third-party candidate. I blame the continued presence of Ralph Nader — had Nader not been on the ballot, one suspects McKinney would have become the easy default candidate for wacky liberals. (Don’t be mad, wacky liberals, I love you. The world needs wacky liberals.)
If nothing else, McKinney helped save the Greens from Nader. That’s an unquestionable good for the party. The bad news is that with his diet of tuna-fish on toast, Nader could live to be 742. So he may be stepping on the toes of Green Candidates long into the 28th century.
6. Fmr. Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga. (LR: 3)
Barr is hurt badly by Paul’s endorsement of Chuck Baldwin. Many were surprised that Paul would pick a radical conservative over a libertarian, but not me. Paul is far more of a Patriot Movement guy than a true libertarian, and the Patriots were (and are) all about bringing the Jesus to the masses, whether the masses like it or not.
Bob Barr hasn’t been a big fan of theocracy, and as such, Paul wasn’t going to support him. Of course, there are all sorts of Democrats and moderate Republicans who still believe Ron Paul is a good guy. These people are very wrong.
At any rate, Barr hasn’t run a particularly competent campaign. Had he done so, he might have been able to be a serious spoiler. Instead, he will probably finish third or fourth, but he won’t be doing nearly what he could have.
7. Fmr. Ambassador Alan Keyes, I-Md.
Alan Keyes is on the ballot…in California, Colorado, and Florida.
And when he wins those states, he will be only 189 electoral votes shy of the presidency! Almost as close as McCain!
Okay, seriously, Keyes should finish so far back that he’s not even visible. The big question, of course, is what this means for the Alan Keyes 2012 presidential campaign, which should begin on Wednesday. Will Keyes stick with his made-up “America’s Independent Party,” or will he create a new, even crazier splinter party? Or will he have an epiphany and go back to the GOP, until he loses the primaries and leaves again? Or will he instead secede from America, and run for President of the United States of Keyes?
What? Quit? My friend, you don’t know Alan Keyes. He’ll be running for President until the day he wins. Or doomsday. Okay, until doomsday.
Dropping Out: Hillary Clinton (5)
Topics: Alan Keyes, Barack Obama, Chuck Baldwin, Cynthia McKinney, John McCain, Ralph Nader, Ron Paul | 2 Comments »
November 4th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
[...] Jeff Fecke of The Blog of the Moderate Left , in todays piece Power Rankings are Dead, Long Live Power Rankings favorably compares Vermin Supreme’s charisma and oratory skills with those of Barrack [...]
November 4th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
OK, Sweetums is way too nice to be Alan Keyes. But the pictures are great all the same!