The White, Male, Anti-Establishment Candidate

I'll admit it: I have not watched a single debate thus far in the race for the Presidency. There are so many of them, and they are all so boring. But, like a good liberal, I follow along and get the reports afterwards from the Times, or Daily Kos, or wherever. And I think that John Edwards is my favorite candidate, the only one pushing a populist rhetoric that can compete with Huckabee's. I think that Huckabee will, improbably, and much to the chagrin of the Republican establishment, win the nomination. Huckabee, too, stands out as an actual populist among the field. While I find his evangelical Christianity un-nerving, at least he makes a point of noting that Christianity does, in fact, call for us to care for the least among us. Watching the deep unease Republican stalwarts like Grover Norquist have with this message makes me cackle like a witch. They've treated Jesus like they've treated the Constitution--used when handy, for rhetorical purposes only, and open to interpretation and negotiation. Now they're faced with someone who might believe that Jesus would have spent more time with homeless veterans and less time with Halliburton, more time in the waters in New Orleans than at the country club, and they're shaking in their loafers.

Don't get me wrong, the thought of President Huckabee makes me wish for the immediate reincarnation of Mark Twain, who would have made me laugh in ways I haven't yet thought of about the Huckster. So to return to my original point: John Edwards is running a passionate, thoughtful and compelling anti-establishment campaign. His health care plan is well developed, his positions on foreign policy are much more detailed than Obama's, and I believe him when he says he cares about those at the bottom of the American dogpile. I also, sincerely, love his wife. I saw her at the Regulator Bookstore a couple of months ago, and she's funny, and smart, and fierce, and she loves him like there's no tomorrow. It says something about a man when he has earned the respect of a woman like her.

So, in a sure sign that the Great Irony Machine keeps churning, our most anti-establishment, anti-status-quo candidate is a young, wealthy, white male. Fascinating.