Primary concerns.

Generally, I adore the primaries. Knowing that, within months, a certain grand old party will be taking as many pot-shots at my beloved Democrats as they can, it's nice to watch them turn inward and harp on each other for awhile. A particularly heartening moment that Al Franken recalls from the 2000 elections: Bush, when asked about a political biography that he was supposedly reading, completely choked and began spouting his usual rhetoric about changing the tone in Washington or whatever the current hot topic was at the time. When asked his next question, John McCain answered it quickly and spent the rest of his time filling in the information that Bush should have learned from the book he'd supposedly just read. Classic.

This upcoming Democratic primary has me very worried, though. I'm not racist and I'm not sexist; I believe that a man or a woman, regardless of race, could do an amazing job as president. I am, however, concerned that we get a Democrat in office as quickly as humanly possible. I am afraid that our forerunners, Clinton and Obama, might hurt our chances. I'm not certain that America is ready for a woman to be president, no matter how badly the Bush administration has fucked up. Obama is a man, and he may be able to make history despite the remaining presence of racism in our country, but I think that Mrs. Clinton would have a very difficult time pulling this election off. For one, she's a chick, which is still worse than being a man in this respect. Secondly, she's seen as being cold and callous, thanks to the Republican slander and lie machine. There are enough people who hate Hillary to make her a risky candidate. There was enough scandal regarding herself and her husband during his administration for the GOP to have more than enough fuel for its hateful, America-hating, selfish, money-grubbing fire. Yes, fire can be all of those things.

Democrats prevailed overall in the last election, but barely. Are we willing to risk it on Hillary? I have no doubt that, if she's anything like her husband, her presidency would create another strong period of time for America; I just doubt that Americans will give her a chance to do the job. We desperately need a Democrat in office now. Just something to think about.