Growing Weakness in the American Political Process

Fred Thompson, just by forming an exploratory committee, and before voters can possibly have a good idea of what he actually stands for, or who he is other than that guy on Law and Order, has vaulted into second place in the GOP field. This is a clear indication of the weak and flimsy support the GOP field is attracting, and the desire of GOP voters for a savior.

Giuliani retains the lead for now, but many are starting to see his authoritarian, condescending, manipulative ways, and see through his media-built reputation as a "hero" of 9/11. But I don’t think that Thompson or Romney will hold up much better as a standard bearer for the GOP, either. There is every chance that horse as dark as Dean in 2004 will emerge to seriously contest the GOP nomination.

I sincerely hope it is someone like Ron Paul, who can begin to guide the GOP back to traditional conservative policies and values and away from the increasing fascist tone I’m hearing. But I fear that the nominee might end up being a standard bearer for the new minority power in the GOP (the Christian dominionists) such as Brownback or Huckabee, just like the nominee for the Democrats ended up being Kerry, the scion of the new minority power in the Democratic party (the corporatist DLC) in 2004.

Nor is a certain fatigue with the front-runners limited to the Republicans. Hillary reputedly didn’t even want to announce until August or September of this year, fearing voter fatigue with her as the front-runner. Her hand was forced by the announcement of so many others, especially Obama. I think it is clear that with Gore in 3rd place in opinion polls, despite not actually running, that Democrats, too, are hoping for a new champion to emerge every bit as much as Republicans. If Gore were to announce an exploratory committee, I suspect the bump would launch him into first or second place immediately.

If there is a lesson to all this, it could be to keep your powder dry as long as possible in this political environment. Politics have become so negative and cynical, and voters so disillusioned, that it is hard for candidates to prevent their negatives from piling up over time, even if they are running a mainly positive primary campaign.

Perhaps this all points to a late entering independent campaign as the best strategy for this election cycle. With both Democrats and Republicans more fed-up with own parties than ever before, and so many registered independents in the electorate, the best candidates might be those who simply skip the entire tiresome nominating process and run straight at the general. With Mike Bloomberg making noises about financing his own independent run at the White House, and clearly having the means to pay the $500 million price tag of a serious general election campaign, he and whomever he selects as a running mate might just be the ultimate white knights for voters. If so, a self-financed independent President would spell the beginning of the end of party politics as we know them in the United States. When neither of the major-party nominees can capture the Presidency, the system has so broken down that one, or both, parties are walking fatalities and simply don’t realize it yet.

The big question then becomes will the parties pick themselves up and reform to capture disaffected independents and non-voters, or will American politics become the wholly-owned province of entrepreneurial candidates wealthy enough to self-finance without any party support or constraints? If it is the latter, look for viable candidates to start hiring military contractors like Blackwater for their campaigns’ "security" needs, and start preparing for the end of the American Republic.