I Think I Know What You Mean, Travis

Don’t waste any time trying to make sense of my titles. Many, maybe even most, will be completely arbitrary.

When I wrote about 2008, every movie I saw and every book I read seemed to blend seamlessly into the backdrop of the election. (And if it didn’t, like the Roman Polanski documentary, I made sure I found some thread on which to hang a connection.) I finished Kevin Avery’s excellent Paul Nelson book, Everything Is an Afterthought, last night—the biography half, that is—and don’t have any connection to tell you about. That’s a strange thing to make note of, I suppose, but it’s the kind of difference between then and now that I notice.

What Do We Do Now?

Okay, Scott—game on, as my temporary hero Rick Santorum would say. (Newt Gingrich was my hero last week, and he’ll be my hero again this weekend when he officially launches his farewell And Then You Destroy Yourself, and Maybe Even Take Some Collateral Damage Down with You tour of New Hampshire and South Carolina. I hope, anyway—he appears to be getting cold feet.)

Thanks for the link back to 2008. That was an adventure—gratifying, unexpected, often nerve-wracking (I cared about the outcome more than I ever thought I could care about a political outcome). I was listening a few weeks ago to some of the radio show we did the Sunday before the election, and it really brought home how exciting all of that was for me. But I get the feeling that 2012 is going to feel more like punishment for how right and clarifying everything felt last time. As I document my present feelings towards Obama over the course of this, I’ll try to explain what I mean by that—to you, and, I expect, sometimes to myself. But I won’t wade into any of that yet. Lots of time.

(I laughed when you promised—what’s that word again?—gravitas from me. Someone called me a wild gossipy political horserace fiend on the message board a few days ago. Which I think is higher on the evolutionary scale than being called a perpetually misinformed Canadian cheerleader for Obama, something I read in the Toronto Sun this morning. But I’m not sure.)

It’s not hard to figure out what I continue to hope for on the Republican side: maximum chaos, for as long as possible. It’s been close to maximum chaos thus far, especially for the couple of weeks when Gingrich moved out in front, but the sobering reality is that that may be coming to a close very soon. When, as seems all but certain now, it finally gets down to He Who Somehow Threaded the Needle—the guy the Democrats are pretending to salivate over, as they frantically try to figure out what to do—the (probably) inexorable slog towards Romney’s election will begin. Very little will feel right, and nothing will clarify. It will be a muddle from start to finish. Last time felt like “Everyday People,” this time it’ll be “Family Affair.”

I’m starting on a very up note, I know. Palin and Reverend Wright and Iowa—Iowa, 2008—seem very far away.

Mama Weer All Crazee Now

A Facebook friend of mine recently posted the following status update:

It’s not much of a New Year’s resolution; more of a small gesture toward peace & quiet in my brain. I’ve unfollowed everybody I was following on Twitter who talked exclusively about politics (bloggers, journalists, etc.). I am disconnecting from all that shit this year. I know I am powerless to change the course of this country and I’d rather not waste any more of my time getting worked up over politicians’ bullshit.

I just Googled the phrase “2012 presidential election blog” which turned up “about 1,050,000,000 results” (roughly equal to what President Ron Paul intends to slash from federal spending in his first year in office). So the sentiments above are entirely understandable. Still, let’s be clear: as the approximately 1,050,000,001st blog about the 2012 presidential election, wasting time “getting worked up over politicians’ bullshit” is precisely what I, and my longtime friend Phil Dellio, will likely use this space for, as we debate and dissect all the minutiae we can stomach in the months ahead. Not sure how this thing will pan out exactly, but let’s just say Phil will provide the gravitas, I’ll bring the potato chips. Call me Flava Flav to Phil’s Chuck D; Ringo to his John-Paul-and-George. (Be sure to check out all the great stuff Phil wrote last time around, too.)

And so, on the heels of Mitt Romney’s stunning landslide victory a couple nights ago in the Iowa caucus, onward we march, into the cra-zee…