In the end, I couldn’t do it. My California ballot arrived in the mail today, and I opened it fully intending to vote for John McCain. I filled out the state propositions first — yes on 8, no on everything proposing a new bond or new spending — then the local offices, straight Republican excepting Kevin Johnson for (nonpartisan) Sacramento mayor. Finally, the vote for President of the United States: an academic exercise in California, where Barack Obama will surely win by a crushing margin. But good citizenship demands voting as if it matters. Do I believe in John McCain? Not as much as I used to. Do I believe in Sarah Palin? Despite my early enthusiasm for her, now not at all. Do I believe in the national Republican Party? Not in the slightest — even though I see no meaningful alternative to it. So, my choice for President in 2008, scrawled in my ballot as an act of futile protest, is Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. If nothing else, I am confident this is the first of several votes I will cast for him in years to come.
Two points: 1) He doesn't "believe" in McCain so much anymore because McCain is going to lose, and these guys hate losers; and 2) Kevin Johnson has the potential to be a political force. He's earnest, bright, competitive, good looking, has a great life story -- he has a lot of things going for him. Nobody seems to care about the sexual stuff in his past. He'll almost certainly end up running for governor eventually, and if he keeps the religious aspects of his personality in the shadows, he has a chance to win. After that, well, if Sarah Palin can...
