By the time classes resume for the spring semester, voting in the 2008 election will have already gotten underway. With the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary in the very near future (Jan. 3 and 8, respectively) the Daily would like to take this last opportunity to offer some parting reflections.
We're excited about the upcoming election for several reasons. Eight years of an administration that refused to face realities, both in the Middle East and at home, subverted the Constitution and never admitted its failings, was eight years too many. A new face in the White House is long overdue.
It has also been nice to see the concrete proposals that have been coming out of primary races thus far. Instead of spewing nebulous promises to end the war in Iraq and to fund universal heath care coverage, campaigns have put forth specific timetables for withdrawal and precise health care plans.
In short, we are hopeful that the next year will bring fruitful debate and a truly new direction for the country. But there is one aspect of the political process that we hope won't be too prevalent in the coming months: Attempts from candidates to appear folksy, down-to-earth, and just like the Average Joe are not welcome, especially after nearly eight years of President Bush.
Bush represented the worst of this anti-intellectual streak. Although he comes from the most privileged of backgrounds, his feeble attempts at scholarship in school seemed to be a personal way of rebelling against the elitist Ivory Tower.
A summa cum laude degree from Yale shouldn't be a prerequisite for presidency, but it sure doesn't hurt. What's most bothersome about Bush is his persistent lack of intellectual curiosity, manifested in the fact that he doesn't read daily papers and didn't seem interested in succeeding in higher education.
The recent Chuck Norris video that has surfaced from the Mike Huckabee campaign presents a similarly unattractive and low brow message. Seeing a joke superhero endorse a political candidate, and likewise seeing that candidate tell bad one-liners, is not inspiring.
We aren't looking for a president with whom we can sit down and drink a beer. We don't want an Average Joe ascending to one of the most powerful positions in the Western World; we want to see a leader who jumps at intellectual and political challenges and who can relate to the population without reaching to the lowest common denominator.
A candidate who promises to be just like the rest of us isn't a leader at all, and being in tune with the needs of Americans does not equate to taking up the same entertainment and lifestyle choices of the rest of the country.
We hope that the coming months will feature rich debates that go beyond the clothing choice of candidates and instead serve as forums for nationwide discussions.
With any luck, the election will be headed in exactly that direction as we take up our books again in January.
