Fun Fact #3: We have really only known a Bush or Clinton in the White House

I'm still relatively friendless out here, so this blog is one of the only ways for me to share my "fun facts" with people. I've tried with my grandmother, but she's pretty hard of hearing and it basically resorted to me shouting random facts at her.

I have plenty of time at work to cement my status as a "news junkie" since my job has me attached to the computer for much of the day. I read this article, which I've linked to at the bottom, in "The Economist" a few weeks ago and a certain section has stuck with me. The article concerns Hilary Clinton and devotes a lot of time to analyzing the gender gap among her supporters and her of becoming president.

But the key quote, for me at least, wasn't about the gender gap, but was the following statistic: "Over 100 million Americans have never known anybody but a Bush or a Clinton in the White House," suggesting that "American political life is in the hands of a small group of insiders who are organized around semi-royal families."

It's an obvious fact when one looks at the presidential record, but it never really hit me until now. I know that Reagan was in office when I was born, but the only presidents that I truly remember are either a Bush or Clinton. And it increasingly looks like this trend is going to continue.

Obama continues to falter in the polls and the Republicans are struggling to find a candidate that the entire party could support. I personally believe that Giuliani is the only candidate that could beat Clinton in the national arena. I think he could easily siphon off enough liberal votes, especially against somethings as divisive as Clinton/Obama ticket (which many people are predicting), to take the White House. But a lot of Republicans don't even like Giuliani and the likelihood of him winning the Republican primaries is in no way a sure thing.

But then again, I really have no idea how this election is going to turn out. All of the front-runners have a potential major political liability attached to them. Clinton is a woman, Obama is black, Edwards will forever be associated with failed Kerry campaign, Romney is Mormon, Giuliani is socially liberal in a lot of regards, and McCain (who can barely qualify as front-runner these days)comes across as a flip-flopper.

Politics have always both fascinated and repulsed me. I would never pretend to be an expert in regards to them, but they're always interesting and make me think.

Article Link: http://www.economist.com/world/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9904609