From The Niagara Falls Reporter
By Bill Gallagher

As we slide into 2008, the real election season begins. Sure, 2007 helped cull the herd and gave the presidential candidates plenty of time to try out their themes and one-liners — and, for many of them, to practice new lies and repeat old ones.

But the real business of nominating the candidates and electing a new president will unfold over the next two or three months. The Iowa caucus, the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries and the Nevada caucus are the first string of contests likely to position the candidates and give us some indication of their electability.

Their suitability is another question altogether. The presidential campaign season is entirely too long, with election cycles overlapping. The prolonged process numbs an electorate with a limited attention span. Until now, I have refrained from devoting much space to presidential politics, other than to sound clear warnings about the candidates who cause me to shudder, cringe, pray or lament. In order, that would be Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Hillary Clinton.

President George W. Bush proved in 2004 how easily the American people could be fooled after the disgrace that put him in the White House in the first place. The U.S. Supreme Court stole the 2000 election, trampling on the state of Florida’s constitution, laws and court decisions governing vote counts.

Justice Antonin Scalia, Vice President Dick Cheney’s hunting pal, crafted and imposed a supremely partisan decision that made Bush president and set the nation on a disastrous course. A few more informed voters in a few states could have changed history.

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