40 Years of Fear and Loathing On the Campaign Trail

I was 8 years old, sleeping over Aunt Cris' house. Aunt Cris was one fun aunt, and still is. She said I could do whatever I wanted. I asked her to turn on the television and switch it to the Presidential Debate.

I never desired to be President and still don't. The Government is for people with bad intentions disguised as good intentions, which might be worse than plain old bad intentions. The left and the right are the same. So what was the attraction, then and now?

Dr. Hunter S. Thompson had an answer for me: Gambling.

"Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72" is a masterpiece that chronicles George McGovern's campaign from nothing, to nearly challenging Richard Nixon, and back to ultimate failure... The book isn't just the story of a campaign. It's a legitmate look at politics from the inside. Some of these guys still exist in Washington today, FORTY YEARS LATER, and yet if you read the book, this fact isn't shocking at all.

The point I'm trying to drive at is that Thompson is gambling throughout the entire book. On primaries. On percentages. On Vice Presidents and on runners up. The gambling possiblities of an Election are only limited by one's imagination.

 President Barack Obama won the 2008 election 365 electoral votes to 173.

(Statistics needed HERE to show what a flogging that is)

Only three Incumbent Presidents have been defeated in recent history (since world war 2): Ford, Carter and Bush1. Bush2 only barely survived joining this group.

What does this all mean? I don't know exactly, but I wish I had Republican friends, because I would call them up and place bets on the 2012 election, for any amount they desire.

This doesn't mean I will vote for Obama, nor does it mean I "want" him to win. I could care less. But that's another story, for another day...