I found an old Reader's Digest...

[Drunken Irishman]

I am the type who has to read while using the bathroom, but since my Entertainment Weekly & Sports Illustrated subscriptions were not renewed, I was forced to find old magazines in my reading drawer. After searching for a few minutes, I found one from 2003 (not sure what month) and they had a cover story about the Democrats looking for their next JFK and the Republicans looking for their next Ronald Reagan. I vaguely remember reading the article back when it was published, but thought I'd take a look at it again, especially when I realized the two candidates they were talking about were John Edwards and Bill Frist.

The article essentially said they were the future of both parties and went into great detail into how they were potential presidential material. I guess Edwards was, since he went on to win the vice presidential nomination in 2004, but even then, five years later, he's done politically. Frist, well he never got beyond Tennessee and is probably done in the foreseeable future.

So what has happened since 2003?

Barack Obama, for one. Edwards was talked up in this article about being the future of the Democratic Party and possibly the next Kennedy. It didn't happen. Frist, likewise, was discussed as the candidate to bring back Reaganism. Doubt he will.

Funny how time works and how perception is altered in only a few short years. When this article was written, no one had ever heard of Barack Obama and now he's not only the future of the Democratic Party, but the probable next president.

[blueknight]

1. for years

readers digest was a right wing rag. i quit reading it years ago

[Drunken Irishman]

2. I'm sure it still is.

But I normally just read it for the jokes and sometimes their stories that deal with crime and disaster.

[Berry Cool]

3. Another thing that's happened since 2003

Terri Schiavo. When you think about it, we have her to thank for sinking Frist. It was impossible for most thinking people to take him seriously after his "diagnosis by videotape."

Schiavo was like a little drip, drip in the American consciousness after the stolen Bush "reelection" that began to make America realize what it was really in for with Republicans in charge. Not only was it becoming obvious we'd be mired in Iraq for a long time with no really good reason for being there in the first place, but it became obvious that the Republican Party no longer believed in its former tenet of leaving individuals alone to make their own personal decisions rather than the government stepping in to make them. Frist linked himself inextricably to the crew that wanted to keep Schiavo technically alive against her husband's wishes for no other reason than because it believed that doing so would be of benefit to itself politically. The truth was, most people were appalled that it seemed this poor woman was not going to be allowed to die in peace just because a bunch of politicians wanted to score points off keeping her alive.

Then along came Katrina to really put the nails in the coffin. But Bill Frist's political fate was sealed by his position on Schiavo. The so-called "Culture of Life" began to look less and less like a culture of life, and more like one where a simple twist of fate could force you into a living death without end--whether or not it was what you wanted.