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W
e e k l y F
e a t u r e P a g e
Links to archived past pages on lower left
The contents of the “Weekly Feature” page are provided
to you for your entertainment, amusement, and perhaps information.
Here you may find articles of interest, pictures, historical information
on the Club, or whatever shuffles to the top of the pile on our
desk. The only defined characteristic of this space is that we
will make every effort to change/replace it around the middle of
each week. Thank you for visiting, and please stop by again. Click
on any photo to see it larger in a separate window. |
Campaign ‘08
You may have noticed that we are now fully engaged
in the home stretch of yet another Presidential campaign. Certainly,
all the cameras
and microphones from the AV department at the MMOGTA Publishing Complex
have been strategically deployed in the optimistic hope that we will
be there to catch that one elusive pearl of wisdom that may emerge
from the otherwise rather smelly oyster that is politics. Hope springs
eternal, they say.
For one whose first conscious exposure to politics
came somewhere between the Truman and Eisenhower terms, this campaign
surely stands
out in
contrast. The Democrats made history during the primary phase as an
African American and a woman vied for the nomination. The usually more
conservative Republicans surprised everyone during their “convention” by
selecting a very “unconventional” female governor as the
VP nominee.
This will be fun to watch, as the very choices of
candidates seem to take away some of the traditional ammunition that
the two parties
typically
begin to target the other camp with. Not that either side will be disarmed,
as the times we live in seem to insure plenty of cannon fodder for
the arsenals of political bombardment. Falling dollars, rising gas
prices, failing banks, troops in harm’s way, terrorist threats,
etc., etc. Add in the fact that two of the most inexperienced candidates
ever to have gotten to the final stretch of a Presidential campaign
(one on each side) will have to find ways to denigrate the other while
maintaining their own credibility. A delicate balance, indeed.
For those of us out here in the Heartland, who are
old enough to have lived through the 50‘s-60’s civil rights turmoil, it is
gratifying to see that the road to the White House is no longer barricaded
by obstacles of color or gender. Regardless of which party moves into
the iconic mansion on Pennsylvania Avenue, we sincerely believe that
a whole generation of impressionable youngsters will come away with
a new sense that this is the norm. It’s about time we got there.
Always eager to tap into the down-to-earth wisdom
of the rural roots, pollsters have been in almost constant contact
with the Fergus Focus
Group, as they try to determine the direction of the prevailing political
winds. In spite of her lack of experience on the National scene, early
results seem to indicate that many can identify with the whole “Caribou
Barbie” persona that Sarah Palin conveyed so well in her speech
at the convention. Biden brings to the table decades of experience
in Washington to help counterbalance Obama’s shorter resume.
It is also felt that while McCain lacks the dramatic stage presence
of Obama, his career of service to the Nation endows him with an authenticity
that cannot be created or reproduced by an ad campaign. Certainly,
all involved have endured enough scrutiny from the National Press and
voters in the primaries to give reasonable assurance that they deserve
to be considered for the positions they seek. From that point on, voters
will have to listen closely for those hard to find specifics on the
major issues that will have to be addressed by all eventually.
While the MMOGTA does not publicly endorse any candidate,
we certainly do encourage your participation in the process. We urge
you to pay
attention, listen closely, and most of all, do your part on election
day. Our organization has around 400 member families, that translates
into about 800 different opinions, and the only wrong ones are those
that are neutralized by never being expressed. |