Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Will the real Democrat Nominee please stand up?

Now seriously, lets get real about this. Hillary ought to win the Democrat nomination and there shouldnt even be a contest around this. At the end of the day, this isnt really about the media hype, the bitching and slandering and the quotable quotes between the 2 democrat candidates. This is simply about the right person running the world's most powerful country - and running it right.

The Tata tea ad kinda puts my point across. Our steroptypical India politician, all smiles and grins, with party workers and bodyguards in tow walks upto and interrupts the breakfast of our not-so-typical Indian protagonist. The politician "demands" his vote for the upcoming elections. After serving up some of the tea being advertised to the politician, our protagonist goes on to ask the politician what his qualifications are. The politician, mildly amused, tells him that he has "been around" in this field for N number of years. To which our man asks for specific experience in construction, administration, etc etc.. and reminds him that he has applied for an important job. Our politician is ruffled and his party workers protest. Amused and outraged he mockingly asks our man, what he meant by "job". To this our hero delivers the curt punchline - the job of running our country.

I would go for 3 things when it comes to nailing down someone for the job - credentials, contacts and chutzpah. Credentials - do a wiki on both profiles and you know its Hillary who's got the depth and breadth of experience needed for the job. Not to forget, she was at a vantage point during her Hubbie's presidency giving her that one addl unique experience. Contacts - Essential to win consensus on various decisions she would need to take as President. Apart from the several years she has spent in this field and therefore a larger network base, the fact that she was first lady having had a former prez Bill as hubbie can only help in this regard. Chutzpah - Here's where a seriously subjective aspect creeps in. On the face of it, its hard to judge who's got the Audacity and courage needed to taken on the reins. I'd place my bets on Hillary, simply cos its like she's written the CAT exam twice - almost been there, almost done that. Sure Obama may have the Audacity of Hope - but I can see the feet of inexperience from under him crumble, given the eco-political juncture the US is in, in the global context.

So to cut a long monologue short, its time the Amreekan public got real and elect the right person for the job - the job of running THE country.