Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Where I Stand:

Brian Greenspun will make a big change to get what we need

TGIF.

That means there is just one day to go before Nevada Democrats head to their first-in-the-nation Western caucus to weigh in on who they think should be their party’s nominee for the presidency of the United States. And everyone I know is glad it is just about over.

For who could have predicted that Iowa and New Hampshire would set the Silver State up as a tiebreaker of sorts as the country heads toward the real prize of Super Tuesday on Feb. 5 when Democrats in 22 states make their decision?

Who could have predicted that a lawsuit based on the principle of “one man, one vote” would be tossed by a federal judge who thought it best that he shouldn’t mix into Democratic Party politics?

And who could have predicted that the race could possibly come down to whether reports of Culinary Union intimidation of its own members are true and, if so, whether they are effective?

I have made my position clear from the start of this whole thing many months ago. Sen. Hillary Clinton is my friend. Hillary Clinton is also, in my opinion, the best person to lead this nation into a most troubled and dangerous world the day she takes office in January 2009. And Mrs. Clinton is the real agent of change for working men and women, families, single parents and first generations of Americans who have sought a better life for themselves and their families and now have an opportunity to help make that happen.

So, this is not a column endorsing Sen. Clinton. That would be redundant because the editorial pages of the Las Vegas Sun today have done a far better job of doing so than I could and because I hate the idea of always doing what others expect.

What I want to discuss today is the concept of “change,” about which we have heard so much during this campaign and about which so little is known. On Thursday my sister, Janie, wrote a column about what she has learned during her most politically liberal journey through American politics.

As long as I can remember, Janie has always sought change, often dramatic change, and so often in the past she was disappointed because the agent of that change either couldn’t win an election or didn’t have the ability to secure that change once elected.

She is still as liberal as always, but now she tempers her desires with a dose of practical politics that demands she elect someone who can actually get the job done.

I have been struck in recent days that those in this race who are screaming “change” so loudly -- change from the ways of Washington, change in the way we do business and change for the sake of change -- are among the first to call on Washington to fix the problems that are threatening to take us down.

There is no question in my mind that the right Democratic candidate will win the race for the White House in November. I also know that it will be no cakewalk and that the Republicans know how to fight in the trenches.

It is almost laughable that what the Democrats are calling dirty politics and getting all exercised about is really child’s play compared with what the GOP playbook has in store for the general election. If the party leadership can’t stand names and sticks and stones, the very least it should do is put up a candidate who can, because they are all coming, courtesy of the political party that gave us the Supreme Court victory for President Bush in 2000.

At some point in our grown-up lives we have to come to terms with the fact that things don’t happen just because we wish for them, hope for them or pray for them. All of that helps but, in the end, someone has to roll up her sleeves, get in the trenches and get dirty while getting it all done.

It should not be lost on any of us that the stock market has returned almost to 2000 levels, homebuilders are being eviscerated in the public markets, homeowners are being turned out of their homes without any equity to show for their years of payments, and financial institutions are going hat in hand to foreign lenders to help stave off crushing bankruptcies. All of these are signs that our economy is in the toilet. Clearly, we need a change. But first we need to fix our problems!

So where do we go for that fix? Where else? Washington! And who is clamoring for that fix? The very people who are trying to convince the voters that we need to change everything, including Washington.

You see, it is one thing to cry out for change -- that always sounds good and makes us feel good about ourselves; you know, we are doing something to effect change -- but it is another thing entirely to make change happen.

The very place Sen. Barack Obama folks, for example, want to change is the only place where these problems can be fixed today. And tomorrow.

Sen. Clinton knows how to make Washington work and knows how to deal with Republican lawmakers who, say what you want and what you wish, will still be there in 2009 no matter which party wins the White House. They will need to be reckoned with.

I know the frustration many people are experiencing and can only imagine the financial pain that many others are having to live with. In fact, I have been a Republican since I registered to vote 40 years ago. I am so fed up with Washington and the Republican administration that I intend to change my party affiliation Saturday so I can caucus for Sen. Clinton. For those of you who don’t know me, trust me, this is a really big move.

That is a huge change in my personal voting life. A Democrat in the White House in 2009 would also be a huge change in the lives of many millions of Americans.

But that isn’t sufficient. George W. Bush represented change when he ran and the country fell for his act. How’d that work out? We not only want a change in Washington, we also need someone who is capable of making real change happen once she gets there. Nevadans have an opportunity Saturday to consider their own lives, their own futures and the futures of their children and act as if all of those things hang in the balance. Because they do.

I am going to caucus for the person I believe will be the best president I have ever voted for and I am going to caucus for the person who will represent the greatest single change in the history of the U.S. presidency.

You see, I believe in Chelsea’s mom and apple pie. In that order. And that is also a very big change.

Brian Greenspun is editor of the Las Vegas Sun.

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