Gutman, A disappointing Democratic field

A fellow journalist asked me the other day: "Which among the Democratic presidential pretenders do you like best?"

"To tell the truth," I replied, "I am uncomfortable with all of them." He asked me to elaborate. I obliged.

Something in me relishes the unvarnished, in-your-face rhetoric and stance of Reverend Al Sharpton. For obvious reasons, he doesn't have a prayer.

For a while, I found Howard Dean's glacial and unflappable demeanor inspiring (and unsettling) ... until the other day when he bellowed like a fishmonger at a football game. He redeemed himself during an interview with Diane Sawyer. I found his wife, Dr. Judy Steinberg Dean's unpretentiousness refreshing. I'd like to see a First Lady cavorting in the White House in jeans and sweater. Less pomp and more substance, I say.

Joe Lieberman (with whom I have lengthy correspondence about the US Army School of the Americas --- he doesn't support it nor does he condemn it) is a fence-straddling politician, the kind that eyes the field from above the better to swoop down on an injured prey. His sickening invocations of God during his run for the vice-presidency left a bad taste in my mouth. I have an abiding belief in a Supreme Being --- a "Grand Architect of the Universe" --- but I don't go blabbing His name all over the place.

John Edwards, despite a vague Kennedy-ish style and swagger, has made not the slightest impression on me. I have no idea what he stands for.

I like Dennis Kucinich. He seems a decent, honest man. Alas, idol-worshipping Americans want their presidents tall, handsome and charismatic.

John Kerry looks poised, stately and presidential. I'm not sure that he can deliver on some of his audacious (if not outlandish) promises.

Wesley Clark, the elfin ex-general, smiles a lot. He has recreated himself as the sum total of his competitors' individual parts. He wants to be all things to all people.

What I see is a group of men (now that Carol Moseley Braun is out of the picture) salivating at the prospect of playing house at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The clawing and scratching among them has subsided, replaced by a sustained (and justifiable) assault on President Bush. I suppose that, like in many previous elections, I will be forced to vote for the candidate I perceive to be the least worst ... or to abstain altogether.

America, I told my colleague, needs a strong, vibrant, articulate consumerist third party. Democrats and Republicans are indistinguishable one from the other except for the partisanships and antipathies they inspire in their respective camps. Both are tied to corporate wealth, both are intent on blocking meaningful reform, both are involved in immense larceny against Americans, one through merciless taxes on the middle class, the other through obscene incentives and loopholes that favor the elite.

The late newsman and author, Will Cuppy, did not have to add an epilogue to his erudite and humorous, "The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody." It was implicit in his work. His instincts and sense of history told him that America too shall go by way of the Maya, Egyptians and Romans. The great weakness (and paradox) of democracy is that it allows in its midst the existence of undemocratic institutions and policies, and that American presidents are sworn to protect them.

In the long run the symbiosis, I believe, is lethal.

W. E. Gutman is a veteran investigative journalist on regular assignment in Central America. He lives and works in southern California.

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Greater Caribbean This Week
Fisher, Scarlet Letters
Gutman, The Democratic field
Jackson, Panama's minor political parties
Kerry, Ending special interest rule
Arango, Remarks at the start of a campaign

opinion

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