Yes, Presidential Election Year 2008 seems to be over. Or is it?? Read on.
With most polls placing Democratic candidate Obama 10+ points over Republican candidate McCain, it would seem to be a routine slide to November 4th this year. However, I like to keep things interesting, so here are my top predictions for an Obama presidency:
Item 1: Obama wins. Duh.
But he does not win by the 10+ margin that the polls predict. I believe that the contest will be a lot closer on Nov. 4th. There will be a lot of Republicans kicking themselves in the butt for not voting. Shame on you; all Americans should vote on this Election Day. The unexpected vote numbers will possibly be blamed on the Bradley Effect witnessed in the California Gubernatorial election of 1982 :folks did not admit to the pollsters that they would not vote for a black candidate. When the election took place, the true numbers came out. But this disparity in reporting vs. reality will result in……
Item 2: Media backlash.
All of us are aware that the media was in bed with candidate Obama, eg: Saturday Night Live lampooned this phenomenum when they showed reporters asking candidate Obama if he needed a pillow or if it should be fluffed some more. Candidate Hillary Clinton alluded to this “Obama Effect” during her own candidacy. I believe the American people will not tolerate 4 more years of this whore-pimp situation and will strike back against the media by NOT WATCHING. Expect higher viewing numbers for reality-television shows and Entertainment-Tonight-type programs as news viewership declines. Same for newspapers, unless they print sale-coupons or cents-off coupons for food. Which brings us to…..
Item 3: Economy in the toilet.
Despite Obama’s “efficiencies” and his research into extracting sunlight from cucumbers the economy will continue its slide into crumminess or at best, into stagnation. There will be an initial bump upwards, due to the change-is-coming effect, but this will quickly be replaced by the cold truth of reality. Useless investment in ocean wind farms and solar panel cities will not trickle down to other sectors of the economy. They will not produce enough energy to fuel an economic resurgence, but they will make for an exciting IMAX film coming to your neighborhood soon !!! Which easily leads to…..
Item 4: Blame it on Bush.
Blaming anything and everything on Bush has become such a popular pastime that I don’t think it will stop. Obama got elected by blaming the Bush Presidency and I don’t think he will stop. Blaming the continuing crisis on 8 Bush years will get pretty old, though, and soon. The Economic Crisis got him elected, but it will also bring Obama down in popularity and job acceptance poll-numbers. There will be books written on this period of economic distress, which is why I find it so curious that none will be written about……
Item 5: Big Conspiracy.
I always connect a big event with the people that most benefit from that big event. This crisis got Obama elected, ergo, the Democratic Party is behind it. Now wait. Before you consign this thought to the rubbish bin section of your brain, consider this: the crisis was bound to happen, the bad home loans were in place, the banks were running on vapor; but what made it happen just NOW?? Why did it not happen months ago, or on November 5th? Why was it so fortuitously timed for a particular person to benefit?? Just the timing of it makes my conspiracy-theory-minded Spidey sense tingle. And trust me, I am not the only person making this kind of fantastical leap: most reporters got their reputations by developing that investigative-hunch-bone that makes them uneasy when things “just happen.” But the lack of investigative reporting makes me wonder about how far this conspiracy reaches. Could it be that not only the Democrats but also the Republicans have something to hide in this mess, and they have both managed to keep the press at bay?? Newshounds know that you can’t piss both sides of the political process, or you end up with 4 years of reporting on Libertarian and Green Party issues. But they can still redeem themselves and avoid Item 2. It just may not be possible to do so. Just look at the finger that pushed the first domino in the chain of bank failures, that’s were the fault lies.
And bonus Item 6:
Obama’s ethanol initiative will pollute the environment in a big way and turn environmentalists against him. Again. But nobody cares about this, so please ignore.
Afterthought Item 7: Sarah Palin runs for Presidency 2012. This year shows that inexperience is not a detractor to the Presidency if you are popular enough. After discarding the McCain deadweight (sorry John!!), Palin will reject public funding for campaigns and go on to raise prodigious amounts of cash that will take her to the Presidency. But watch out: her run will encourage Hillary Clinton to also run in 2012, capitalizing on her opposition to Obama since the very start; she will find an understanding American public. That’s the campaign *I* want to see made into a movie!!
