September 7, 2005--Dream Ticket 2008

It took them a week. Not just to get water and food and some medical care to Katrina victims stranded in the Super Dome. Not just to begin the Blame Game. It took them exactly a week to begin to churn about the political implications and consequences for the 2008 Presidential election.

What is Hillary up to? How will what husband Bill said at the Astrodome affect that? Senator Frist is a physician, so where has he been? And McCain—he comes out hemming and hawing, not yet having his spin together. Senator Santorum has been absent, probably because it’s the start of a new school year and he and his wife need to get their 10 children back into their home schooling routines.

But the pundits have been active. For example, William Kristol, reports the NY Times, has been searching for meaning (“Buying Time With Quick Action on the [Supreme] Court and a Second Trip South”). I need to quote him:

“I do think people think Bush could have shown stronger leadership.” But Kristol feels that “People are capable of saying, 'The President kind of screwed this one up, but I still basically agree with him.'" Kristol continues, " I think the Clinton administration would have done a better job, . . . but I’m also glad that Bush is president and not a Democrat” [my italics].

As an aside--Mr. Kristol: Even if in doing that better job maybe just maybe kind of “only” 1,000 people would have died, rather than the 10,000 projected?

So what to do? Everyone I speak with says we have to fix the situation—we need of course to rebuild the Gulf Coast the right way this time with the environmental issues we have ignored appropriately addressed; we need to have effective plans to deal with natural and unnatural disasters; we need to look more honestly at income disparity and do something about that; we need not only to rebuild our schools but make them work; we need to deal honestly with the daunting, persistent issue of race.

In sum—we need governments and institutions of Civil Society that are competent and compassionate.

This brings me to the Dream Ticket for 2008. At times of national crises leaders put partisanship aside for a time to get difficult jobs done. Israel is a current example where Sharon and Peres share power. An equivalent in the US would be Giuliani for President and Clinton (Bill, yes Bill) for Vice President.

My read of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution suggests this would not be prohibited. It states that “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” It does not explicitly exclude the possibility of two terms as President and one or more as VP. Rudy would bring the competence and Bill the compassion.

I know this is all disputable, and probably Chief Justice Roberts would have to weigh in, but it does suggest a way to begin to think our way out of this mess.