'Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be?'
could be Washington, D.C.'s theme song
By Gordon Garnos
PREFACE: Labor
Day weekend is the traditional kickoff for the presidential election
coming up in just a little over a year. However, this tradition was
busted a year or so ago by a number of candidates, hopefuls and
other wannabes. Does all or any part of this have any effect on
South Dakota? That depends. We could loose a U.S. Senator and gain a
vice presidential candidate. South Dakota doesn't have to worry a
lot about many of these presidential candidates rushing to our
borders because we are a little short of voters. Nevertheless we
need to keep focused on who may be our nation's next President.
THE SONG WENT
something like this, "Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter be?, Oh, dear,
what can the matter be? Oh, dear, what can the matter be? Johnny's
so long at the fair.?"
One could say that
about most of this year's candidates for president. As far as I am
concerned, they have all been hanging around at the fairs entirely
too long. This campaign for President is already the longest
presidential crusade in our nationšs history. "Oh, Dear, What Can
the Matter be?"
On the Democratic
side of the race there appears to be just two leading the pack.
Barack Obama, the young man from Illinois, who sounds an awful lot
like Abe Lincoln, but of the other political party, is crying the
need for reform. His speeches ring of "hope and change... the causes
of my life."
THEN THERE IS
Hillary Clinton. Remember her? She is a former President's wife and
currently a U.S. Senator, which, she claims, are her qualifications
to be our next President. Come to think of it, she got pretty close
to South Dakota on Labor Day when she gave a speech at a Sioux City
picnic.
There, she refuted
Obama's "hope and change" pleading by saying, "Change is just a word
if you donšt have the strength and experience to make it happen."
Well, so be it, let their fight with each other drag on.
In the meantime,
South Dakota's lone U.S. Representative, Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin,
has thrown her support to former Senator John Edwards of North
Carolina. Oh, dear, what can the matter be? Oh, well.
THEN, THERE ARE
the Republican hopefuls. At this point I don't believe there is
truly a front runner. However, Rudy Guilliani, Mitt Romney and,
trailing, John McCain seem to be the glory boys at this point. Fred
Thompson, who is the newest member of this club, has just started
his campaign and seems to be picking up a lot of popularity.
What is interesting
here is our U.S. Senator John Thune has thrown his support to
McCain. This has the possibility of the two as a combined ticket for
President and Vice President. I just didn't make this up but was
heard from various South Dakota political pundits. Don't scoff.
Their ticket could be the compromise of the G.O.P. convention.
McCain has been a strong contender for the presidency for at least
two years, but it appears now that some of his glimmer has worn a
little thin.
AT THE SAME TIME,
Governor Mike Rounds likes former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee
and has endorsed him for the nation's top job. The only one of South
Dakota's political leaders who hasn't publicly endorsed someone is
our U.S. Senator Tim Johnson. I don't know if that is because of his
illness or if he is waiting to see if there are any alternatives to
all of the above.
To all of this,
columnist Robyn Blumner recently wrote, "A lot of people tell me
that they are sick of both political parties. They claim the parties
are essentially the same, and it doesn't matter who is in power
since both the Democrats and the Republicans are in the pocket of
special interests and are equally disengaged from the concerns and
needs of average people."
TO THIS, I
would say there is a lot of evidence of this and there is a lot of
agreement right here in South Dakota. We may not get to witness many
of these candidates in our state. Still, we need to be observant of
what is happening to our presidency. Perhaps it is time to sing
another verse of "Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be?"....
Gordon Garnos was long-time editor of the Watertown Public Opinion and
recently retired after 39 years with that newspaper. Garnos, a
lifelong resident of South Dakota except for his military service in the
U.S. Air Force, was born and raised in Presho.
