When Obama fails

Comments on yesterday morning's post here suggesting that a third way must be found got me "to thinkin" on my daily walk to MacArthur Park. (No one has left a cake out in the rain there, though the spoiled, city ducks and bobbing syringes do suffer a downpour every blue moon.)

Kara rightly noted in the comments that the PUMA moniker has no value at this point. I feel no allegiance to it. Riverdaughter has a link across the top of the Confluence which is labeled "An invitation to Democrats in exile". This doesn't work for me either. I have left that party for good and do not consider myself "in exile" from it. I'm gone. Pelosi, Reid and the rest make it an untenable option, with or without the current President.

This has left me grasping. I looked into some libertarian sites and found them interesting - but, alas, in the end they are not my people. If a true collapse occurs I bet I'll throw my lot in with the libertarians - as the other voices that will gain traction in that scenario, I have no doubt, will be mortifying. We are not immune from despotism.

I felt a similar way last fall having scored a ticket to a Palin rally in Carson, California (I don't remember how now ???). I went out of an anthropological love of the process and to see if she was ,in fact, a star. She was almost a star - no Bill Clinton - but no pushover either. She electrified her people - they are just not my people.

The glorious mess that was the Democratic Party B.O. (before Obama) contained my people. No more.

What unnerves me about the current state of polarization - and we are polarized regardless of what the MSM says - is the lack of a viable third option. Not a perfect one - a viable one. Whether I, like Rush, hope "Obama fails" or not is beside the point. I believe he will fail - in a broad sense. That is to say he will fail those who loved him and set aside rationality to see him elected. Whether he fails those who paid for his election is another story and another post. We shall see. Just remember, those who paid for his installation are not you, me, or the most rabid Obama fanatics. The One has come to massage us into believing change has come while protecting the status quo - look no further than the banking plan for evidence of this. (By the time he gets to health care he'll be below 50% and unable to do anything but tweak the system. )

When Obama fails the alternative must be apparent. As it stands now the only alternative is a swift shift to the Right. The magnitude of his failure will dictate how far the pendulum swings. Cannonfire makes the point here. We are liable to breakdown into a 2 camps. Glen Beck type right wingers or Obama supporters. The prospect of having to choose between Newt Gingrich or worse- or to help re-elect Barack Obama in 2012 is not one I look forward to. I am glad I voted Green in 08 - but did it because I knew they were not viable and needed a place to land.

Soon enough, the exigencies of the current circumstances will place the political environment beyond the scope of the usual suspects of either party. A protest vote will not suffice in 2012.

PUMAs who blog from the edges have my respect and perform a valuable service. I will certainly continue to critique, make fun of, and lambaste for the duration. Nevertheless, a third way, perhaps more moderate than I would like, must emerge.

Added note - You'll notice that the Obamamedia is doing its duty and trashing Evan Bayh for having the gumption to do his job... Expect this type of thing to continue.