anyone especially wow you?

Disclaimer: My guy right now is Obama. : )

That said, I thought Edwards and Kucinich did an excellent job tonight. Hillary was very good too.

In 1994 I had to work a Hillary event in one of my high schools. It was September, hot, and the Dem Party had rented the gym for her speech. This being Eugene, it was understood that only the well connected would have access to the gym, and us mere classified employees were to stay away, preferably on the other side of town.

Lo and behold, the Fire Marshal got wind of it, so I was called to take care of exiting issues, capacity, etc. Some recollections:

1. The Secret Service people were pros. In their suits (it was sweltering) these people were unfailingly polite, albeit firm.

2. The White House people were a bunch of hacks, with very little integrity.

3. After helping with the setup, the Fire Dept. recruited me to help them scan the crowd to detect anyone who may be passing out from the heat. To add to the problem, the fans were disabled, in order to get enough current to the TV lights. It was either lights or ventilation, and they chose lights.

4. Hillary was dressed in a pink pants suit, and I think that she must have had a cool vest on, because she was the only person in the whole place not sweating.

5. Afterwards, there was a crowd around her; people trying to shake her hand. My boss (the one who'd originally ordered me and my ilk to stay away) leaned in and got a handshake. I was up in the bleachers watching this.

6. The whole thing reeked of phoniness. However, I am currently leaning towards Hillary, even though I see her and her husband as climbers, who have reached the top on the backs of a lot of ex-friends and supporters. Funny, in a way.

Does anyone actually find any of the Democratic candidates truly compelling? Or are you just picking the ones you think have a good shot? I'm honestly curious, I'd lean toward voting Democrat if there were one I could stand.

John Kerry was a terrible candidate in 2004, one who had a spotty track record (and believe me, I watched a lot of floor coverage on CSpan2 in the early and mid 90s, so I saw a lot of waffles being made) and a bad case of foot in mouth disease. To be fair, the current crop seems slightly less retarded, but Clinton, Obama, and Edwards don't really do it for me.

Now there aren't all that many bright lights on the Republican side either, so that might help them.

I increasingly find that neither party represents what I want, might be time for the write-in vote this time around.

Does anyone actually find any of the Democratic candidates truly compelling?

Actually, yes. I do.

There are a few candidates I like very much. But I don't worry about whether they're compelling. I don't need compelling. I need a good, smart, responsible President who can listen and has good judgement, who will help fix our serious worldwide image problem, do something about health care, end the war as honorably and responsibly as possible, and get going on a serious domestic agenda including infrastructure, greater protection for federal lands, farm policy reform, and progress on ending chronic poverty.

Americans have a terrible habit of considering everything a popularity contest, and we're used to consumer choice, so we apply that model to politics. But politics isn't about individual choice (not Presidential politics, anyway); it's about banding together in large numbers to get important things done, things small groups can't accomplish, and that entails compromise.

I don't see a candidate that has exactly the package I want, either -- a combination of lefty social policies with fiscal moderation and comfort with international power, plenty of experience, and the ability to generate broad support. But I don't get stuck on that fact -- it doesn't mean I just pout in the corner or vote another party. It means I get active in the campaign of the candidate I most support, and stay in until they win or they lose, and then re-evaluate the next good choice.

I have a lot of trouble understanding people who party-hop. The major parties are so very different in structure and policy. Their actions have very far-reaching results, as we have only just begun to realize by watching Bush's court appointments and seeing protection erode in our national parks. Kerry had flaws as a candidate, but it's safe to say there is a huge difference between where we are today than we would have been had he been inaugurated.

Maybe it's true that we get the politicians we deserve. They are only as good as we are involved.

We need to get over our American Idol version of politics in which we complain that we haven't got the Dream Date candidate. Politics is full of imperfect people who were brave enough to say 'let me try,' and good enough to win a lot of others' support. Public service is a damn rough road to take in life. We choose among the people who have determined within themselves that they believe they have a chance, and who can convince enough others that they deserve it. I honor the chance to choose; they're all less similar than they at first appear.

Read platforms!

I'm still in the Edwards camp. Miko's post above sums up my feelings about elections in a lot of ways... I would like to add, though that when you hear people disparaging the system because "the parties are just alike," it's usually a conservative saying it in the hopes you won't vote. Watch out.