Random election thoughts

I've been neglecting you, dear readers, and for that I apologize--I've got quite a few projects cooking, and the blogging and posting and emailing of my cartoons have been taking a back seat. I do have a couple of random vague election-related thoughts following last night's Democratic debate in South Carolina.

On the Democrats, in no particular order:
• I heart Edwards. Of the three remaining major contenders, he's my favorite--I love the way he talks about poverty and healthcare as a moral issue. I love that he is so passionate about those issues and hasn't toned down his views in response to his poor showings in the polls. Of course, he probably won't be a contender for long, which is too bad because...
• Clinton leaves me cold. Sure she's amazingly smart and capable and take-charge and she's got great positions on many issues and... oh, wait, she's a crazy war-monger in bed with health insurance companies who seems to change her rhetoric every which way for reasons of political expediency.
• Obama, Obama, Obama... Sure he's inspiring and a great speaker and he talks gay issues and immigration issues in a very cool and progressive way. But I'm quite disturbed by his appeals to Republican voters and his invocation of Ronald Reagan and his lack of experience and a record of actually getting anything done as a Senator, among other things. My brother tells me he thinks Obama is a genius who will change the way politics work. It sounds like he wants to do what Reagan did in reverse--to create "Obama Republicans" (like "Reagan Democrats"). That will only make me happy if he can get those votes BUT still be just as progressive as Reagan was conservative.
• ...and no, I haven't forgotten Kucinich. Obviously my views most closely resemble his. I thought I had heard that he was planning to drop out and support Obama, but then I heard he was still running, so I'm confused.

As for the remaining GOP candidates, I honestly don't know who scares me more. Fake Maverick "100 years in Iraq!" McCain, Mike "Not Descended from a Monkey" Huckabee, Crazy Giuliani or Multiple-Choice Mitt. Maybe Huckabee and Giuliani are my top two nightmares, with Mitt a close second.