If the Election Were Held Today...

Speaking of surveys, Democracy for America (DFA) has a new survey at DFA's website here.

You can vote for any of the 8 hopefuls who have already announced their candidacies.

You can choose "other."

Or you can choose "undecided."

I agree that early spin for the candidate of your choice is good. It may be early, but now is when the spin begins in earnest, with most of the prospective field having already announced. And I started to pick Barack Obama since I think his candidacy would be the most innovative, instructive, interesting and, frankly, entertaining.

But when it came to committing, I had to go for "other" with this comment:

"The problem is: we need a fighter, if not fierce then at least full of brave conviction. I still miss the candidacy of Howard Dean. I went to Iowa and to New Hampshire for Dean. Right now, it seems unlikely I would go anywhere for any of the candidates above."

And I am sure many others are voting "other" hoping for the return of Al Gore or John F. Kennedy or Harry Truman or Franklin Roosevelt to the ring. Or Robert Redford or Oprah, perhaps.

Bill Richardson, Tom Vilsak, Dennis Kucinich, and even Christopher Dodd, unlikely, have areas of expertise that would come in handy, but it seems most of their passions are relegated to pet projects. Who covers the spectrum? Who would capture more than half the votes? These guys are cabinet quality, and why not leave it at that?

Most of the declared candidates for President of the United States are relatively respectable. But few seem compelling. Attractive as Obama may be, and assertive as Hillary Clinton might become, I just don't feel the fire or the love. Mere respect, mere admiration, mere charisma, mere capability, mere viability are just not enough in politics. The winner usually needs most of these wrapped up into one. But even more, the winner is usually that person most in touch with one of two things, if not both: first, the powers that be, and second, the zeitgeist of the country.

Note that the blessings of the entrenched party faithful as well as the blessings of the mainstream media machine always come above all else.