Politics is a nasty game and Insider has to wonder how Obama and McCain sleep at night these days. They, along with their respective campaign folks, are so busy slurring accusations at each other in the hopes something will stick their heads should be spinning off. They have their entire lives, as well as their legacies, vested in this election. Consequently, they will do whatever it takes to win and the clichés and rhetoric are too much to bear these days. They are just repeating everything they’ve been saying for the last six months over and over again. No matter how it turns out, their lives will be changed forever. Some losers take their lumps and go on to become something relevant. Some would say Al Gore matters more now than he did before he lost in 2000. The man means nothing to the old guy, but there are others who think he deserves a medal like the Nobel Peace Prize for some documentary on how glaciers are melting at a faster pace today than they were 1,000 years ago. But for every Gore there is a John Kerry, Bob Dole or Walter Mondale. The fact is the presidential loser more than likely will ride off into the Washington, D.C. sunset, returning to their six-figure senator incomes and fancy offices, brandished forever as that guy that lost in 2008.
Whoever wins next week is in for a rough ride. That much Insider knows from watching 15 presidents that preceded him. Four years of hell if you ask the old guy. Nobody ages faster than a president in office. Insider saw an interesting photo comparison the other night on his beloved Fox News, comparing George W. Bush of 2000 to the Bush of today. It’s been eight years, but it might as well have been 20, judging by the new wrinkles, gray hairs and bags under the eyes. Neither of them are even president yet, but Obama and McCain have each aged a tremendous amount over the last couple years. Obama has always been prettier than McCain, but they each have gained some years during the campaign. Neither are as pretty as they once were, but Obama is weathering the storm a little better because he’s decades younger than the senior citizen he’s competing against and all the polls show he’s winning.
The old guy has never been involved in politics save a write-in attempt for mayor of Ocean City back in 1996 when the Fish retired. He still has the bumper stickers to prove it. Anyone willing to get involved in politics deserves whatever they get. Maybe a little credit along the way, but mostly just criticism and the headaches that come with a lot of airtime.