Wow! Almost two years it seems…. I have been watching the Dems and the Republicans but finally got burned out when we got to McCain on the Republican side. Hillary and Obama are still duking it out.

Clearly, Hillary couldn’t beat McCain. I think we are all tired of Bushes and Clintons in the Whitehouse anyway. Let’s give someone else a chance with some new ideas.

At lunch today with a group of executives it was pretty clear that everyone realizes that most of the American people see Hillary as a two-faced person who will greet you with a smile and curse you in the same breath. Not exactly presidential material if we consider the President of the United States as someone who would represent all of us nationally, and internationally.

For me, I think America should

-shorten the cycle and the selection process maximum of six months from start to finish.
-not allow private funds for campaigning

-make candidates more accountable for what they are saying

It is so unfortunate that millions of dollars, so much media time, and repeated debates are burning through so much resource. It seems like we in the US should be focusing on selecting the candidates, running the election, and selecting them.

The victors should then get into office and dealing with issues of economy, figuring out a viable health care system, encouraging business to create more jobs , and doing a better job protecting our God-given environment.

This article below was very interesting about why Obama doesn’t level Hillary. Putting it in my online notebook Original post should be here.

Here’s The Speech Obama Should Give

Posted 5/2/2008 5:34 AM CDT

With all the Jeremiah Wright-induced controversy swirling around him lately, there is no question Barack Obama has been thrown off his game. His poll numbers are slipping and his once celebrated oratorical skills have turned halting and defensive. What does he need to right the ship? To use an old football cliche, the best defense is a good offense. He needs to stop letting Hillary Clinton decide the terms of battle and go on the offensive.

There is a great article in Politico today entitled “What Obama Wishes He Could Say.” If I were his campaign manager, I would change that from what he could say to what he should say. Excerpts from the article contain elements of the speech he would give if I were running the Obama campaign. Here is what Obama should say:

“Senator Clinton, do you really want to get in a contest with me over who has more unsavory personal associations?”

You want to talk hypocrisy? How about piously criticizing me for Jeremiah Wright when you have a trail of associations that includes golden oldies like Webb Hubbell. It also includes modern hits like Frank Giustra, the Canadian tycoon and major Bill Clinton benefactor who was using his ties to the ex-president to win business with a ruthless dictatorship in Khazakstan.

How about Marc Rich, the former fugitive financier who won a controversial pardon from Bill Clinton and gave money to Hillary’s first Senate campaign.

What about Hugh and Tony Rodham, who once defied Bill Clinton’s own top foreign policy advisers by entering into a strange investment in hazelnuts in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, and Hugh Rodham, who took large cash payments for trying to broker presidential pardons.

Health care? Do you know the reason that national health care has progressed so little in the last 15 years? It’s because Mrs. Clinton botched it so badly in 1993 as head of the task force.

So Hillary think she’s a stronger candidate for the general election? How about these statistics:

When Bill Clinton came to town in 1993, Democrats were a congressional majority, with 258 seats in the House. When he left in 2001, they were a minority with 46 fewer seats. There were 30 Democratic governors when he arrived, 21 10 years later.

Honesty? A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found nearly 60 percent of voters think Mrs. Clinton is dishonest. Think about that: Only four in 10 voters do not think she lies when she needs to.

Will those numbers improve if she wins the nomination and Republicans resurrect the scandals, the Bill Clinton sexual affairs and her Bosnia fib with the same intensity they brought to the Wright uproar? Not likely.”

Should Obama say these things? Absolutely. Will he? Not likely. The theme of his campaign has been that he is a different kind of candidate who doesn’t indulge in the same-old, same-old type of politics. But, drastic times call for drastic measures, it’s time for Senator Obama to take off the gloves and hit Mrs. Clinton where she lives. Hillary is now seen as the fighter and Obama is perceived, real or not, as weak. If he wants to change this perception the only way to do it is to fight back. All’s fair in love, war, and politics.