For many of us, last night was full of disappointment. Nevertheless, it is not in my nature to wallow. Even when the clouds are darkest, I look resolutely look for silver linings (although my prose takes on an annoying, cliché ridden style). 1) John Edwards
has left the race. But just because he is gone doesn’t mean he has left us without memories to cherish. Remember when he hired those ridiculously obscene bloggers? And remember when he fired them? And remember when he rehired them? And remember when he fired them once and for all, showing the kind of crisp executive decision making a credible presidential contender needs to have? Good times. And whenever we’re blue, we can always punch up that footage of him primping his hair for two minutes. And it’s not like he’s going away. He’ll be back in 2012 or 2016. 2) Rudy Giuliani has left the race. I liked Rudy – he was my second choice – so I take no joy in his downfall. But I take considerable joy in his foolish campaign schemers getting their comeuppance. McCain stood and fought, and reaped the benefits. Rudy could have done the same, but his strategists decided to cut and run when the battle got toughest. Don’t weep for them, though. If Bob Shrum could keep getting work after driving numerous presidential campaigns into the ditch, Rudy’s advisors will have no problem getting future gigs. The political consultant industry is a sad victim of the soft bigotry of low expectations. 3) The New England Patriots will finish their quest for “ever” (as Pats linebacker Junior Seau calls it) on Sunday. Some people think Boston sports fans have been obnoxious in this, our era of serial triumphs. Sorry, but we Boston fans feel the right to celebrate after all that we have suffered. The Buckner loss was the most painful in the history of team sports. The Celtics got battered by multiple tragedies. The Patriots were a star-crossed franchise that didn’t manage to win its first playoff game until its 25th year of existence. When you think about, it’s sad that we live in a nation where so many people are unable to appreciate the greatest display of excellence in the history of team sports. 4) Back in my intemperate blogging days, I launched a McCain Campaign Dead Pool shortly after the McCain/Kennedy fiasco. While I continue my efforts to convince the McCain people that it was all just a very bad joke, one that I profoundly regret and not the kind of thing a potential president should be at all vindictive over, I can still console myself that at least I won’t have to give out the promised prize to a winner. 5) My cleaning woman came today and excitedly asked if I was following the presidential election while she shooed me out of the den. I told her I was. She then proceeded to tell me how excited she was to vote next week. She’s been in this country for many years, but this is the first election she’ll be able to vote in. It will be her first time voting since she was in Brazil, where they force you to vote. She’s torn between Clinton and McCain. I did my level best to convince her to vote for McCain. (Personal note to Team McCain: See? I’m a team player!) Her excitement was contagious. Even when you don’t particularly care for the results, Democracy is a pretty grand thing.
