Graham, Braun, Gephart, Kerry, Edwards, Kuchinich, Dean
Call them the Magnificent 7. They were...magnificent!
But there are 9, you say?
Not last night there weren't! The Reverend Sharpton couldn't make it, and Lieberman wasn't magnificent. In fact he wasn't a Democrat. He was, instead, an attacker of Democrats. One, in particular...Dr. Dean...who merely rolls his eyes and stands there, everneckless, a semaphor, with a coquettish look of incredulity and mock injury swirling in eddies around his crystalline countenance.
The other Democrats, excepting Kucinich, kept their focus on the real problem, Bush Inc., but only seemed to overstep when he cacked a praeteradolescent "Helloooo". A daft move for such a smart man, IMHO. Otherwise, he looked dignified and almost holy at times, and, of course, his ideas were, in the main, valuable and timely, if overpunctuated by commas and rhetorical flourish.
Dick Gephart sounded passionate, almost human, but it may be a case of "too little, too late." Why play that role now, while sitting on your hands for decades? But that said, his passion can serve as a model of something useful. He's not the one though. Sorry. He doesn't have it. Secretary of the Interior, maybe.
And speaking of which...and one reason they shouldn't chew each other up...those who do not wind up being the standard-bearer; the next President...why you all become the now-well-known cabinet in the next administration. You may well be the first cabinet to be familiar to the majority of Americans, and indeed, the world.
Introduce yourself!
Think about it...and consider it. No bait-and-switch. No unseen, secret, merchandise. We are the administration! And you know us.
Who knows. Maybe...
Moving on...
Kerry looked the most presidential. Period. Braun looked the most sane.
Edwards is probably the best-looking and most visionary, but he really has to bring his internal gladiator to bear.
Senator Graham was very good, and actually way better than I expected, but I can't help but see him in a more supporting role.
Were I to be forced to predict who will wind up in not a supporting role, but a senior role, I would have to place my bets on Kerry, Dean, Edwards, and Braun.
I also see General Wesley Clark as, perhaps, the best choice for VP, exempting the sudden addition of a Hillary or Gore expressing interest...at which point I would give the 3 even odds. All are remarkable people. All would be better than Bush and his ludibund, monoculture administration.
In any case, I think it is important that each and every one of the candidates reassure the people that all will be well, for it will be well. Terrorizing people, on the other hand, is for terrorists. There is nothing to fear, and nothing broken that can't be mended.
Fear is bad for your health. The fastest way to improve the health of Americans is to remove the fear in their lives. Be the healer. Speak in healing tones. Be authentic. Think at the top of your intelligence, and feel from the depth of your being. Be divine and wise.
America must become a humanitarian superpower, if a superpower at all. Take us there.
Godspeed...
