McCain, Obama, Hillary and Bush Face Major Problems

By Robert Paul Reyes

If I screw up at work only my colleagues will know if I choose not to share my humiliation with my friends and family.

But the president and the candidates seeking to take his job ply their trade on the world stage, their every gaffe and misstatement is repeated endlessly on YouTube and the cable TV news networks.

Let's briefly consider the biggest problem of the president and the three presidential candidates:

George W. Bush: Abysmal Poll ratings.

If I'm not a good employee I will get a lousy evaluation, but at least nobody will know about it except for my boss and I. President George W. Bush has done a horrible job, and millions of Americans have given him a horrible evaluation. Bush has the lowest approval ratings since the advent of polling.

Can Bush do anything to improve his ratings: Short of resigning, the answer is a resounding No! Bush is a lame duck, or perhaps a better analogy would be a sitting duck, and everybody is taking potshots at him.

Cartoon by MJ

John McCain: The Age Issue

John McCain is an American hero, he served his country honorably in Vietnam, endured six years as a prisoner of war, and he's had a successful career in the senate.

Unfortunately McCain is as old as dirt, and many people are ready to dig a hole and cover him in dirt. It is not ageism to consider McCain's age, being leader of the free world is a very stressful job and it requires an agile mind and a healthy body. McCain's recent string of verbal gaffes makes me question his mental acuity, and his bouts with cancer and his years as a POW, (not to mention his advanced age) have taken a toll on his physical condition.

Can McCain do anything to counter the age issue? Short of transplanting his brain into the body of a young man, the answer is a resounding No! Not to put to fine a point on it, but McCain is too darn old for the presidency.

Hillary Clinton: Non-Support from Superdelegates

As I type this essay Barack Obama is only 12 delegates short of clinching the nomination. Hillary it's over! The superdelegates are not going to override the will of the electorate. Before this night is over, Obama will have secured the nomination.

Barack Obama: Pulpit Pangs

Obama's long association with the Rev. Jeremiah (God Damn America) Wright almost derailed his presidential aspirations. Obama survived this crisis largely due to his magnificent speech on race that he delivered in Philadelphia, but Wright will be an albatross around his neck throughout the general election.

Can Obama survive the Wright controversy? The answer is a resounding Yes! Obama has kicked his former pastor and his church to the curb. He has stopped the bleeding, and the damage done will not be enough to prevent him from becoming the next President of the United States.

Robert Paul Reyes is a NewsBlaze writer on Politics, Pop Culture and Pointless Pontificating. Contact him by writing to NewsBlaze.