Election 2008, According to Starr

TAPPED, "Could the Democrats Blow It Again?"

Today, TAPPED's editors weigh in on the Election '08 discussion that has essentially taken over more than half of the blog. Paul Starr, a co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect, the magazine with which the blog is associated, shares his latest analysis about the upcoming elections.

Starr leads off his article, "Until recently, like most liberals, I was convinced that 2008 was going to be a Democratic year." He explains that prior to the primary season, Democrats seemed to hold the higher ground in the upcoming election, with a passionate attitude towards both their candidates and change and against low White House approval ratings, an unpopular war, etc., ad nauseum. Clearly, Starr now thinks differently.

Immediately, he points to the cause of this apparent dissolution and discord within the Democratic Party - the beginning of primaries and caucuses. Starr notes that as the Republican Party seems closer and closer to zeroing in on a final candidate (in his opinion John McCain, who he fears would be a formidable opponent for the Democrats) and are thus gaining the edge in the election season, the Democratic Party is still plagued by a number of particularly troublesome obstacles when it comes to the two front-runner: Obama and Clinton.

Through this campaign, my immunity to pundit analysis has grown immensely, especially as I plunged into the blogosphere, where instant opinions abound everywhere from the left, to the right, and everywhere in between. Honestly, I see Starr's analysis as another honest attempt to understand the particularly confusing campaign that is leaving people of all political persuasions and allegiances wishing for some kind of certainty as November 4th approaches.