History Will Be Made

History was made in 2008 when the United States of America elected its first black (mixed race) president. Win or lose, Obama will make history again this year, either by becoming the first black president reelected or the first black president to not be reelected.

In recent weeks there have been signs of desperation in the Obama campaign because fundraising has been weaker than expected. It is not from a lack of trying. Emails are blasted daily imploring people to contribute. The campaign has suggested that couples getting married ask their guests that in lieu of a gift they make a donation to the Obama campaign. Many fundraising events include a lottery where the prize is dining with the Mr. and Mrs. Obama at the fundraiser.

Obama has targeted some of his recent policy decisions to benefit groups that might reward his decision by pulling out their checkbook. Almost two months ago Obama completed the evolution of his opinion on same sex marriage. He announced his support for the concept and then attended a series of fundraisers geared towards groups that would be appreciative of his latest epiphany.

A few weeks ago, Obama announced that he was ordering the use of prosecutorial discretion with regards to enforcing immigration laws against certain members of the illegal immigrant population. The following week he was in Mexico for the G-20 Summit and in Orlando to speak at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Annual Conference. The week after that, he attended two campaign events in Miami.

Perhaps the most despicable misuse of the Executive branch of government for the benefit of the incumbent is how Eric Holder is doing everything that he and his staff can think of to stop states from implementing voter id laws and from making reasonable efforts to remove ineligible voters from state voter rolls. Apparently, for Obama to win this election, he will need the support of the three I's, Independents, Illegals & Ineligibles.

Obama has run for political office six times. He is five and one. The one loss was a primary race in 2000 for a seat in the House of Representatives. He has never lost to a Republican. But what if Obama's fundraising difficulties continue? What if his internal polling is showing there is nothing he can do to win? What if Holder can not prevent the cleansing of the voter rolls? Can Obama's ego handle losing a national campaign to a Republican? Will he have the desire and energy to continue a fight that he knows he will lose? How will losing affect his legacy?

Should it become clear to those inside the Obama campaign that there is no road victory, there is an option that would save him the humiliation of losing and result in his name being used in the same sentence as President Lyndon Johnson. Like Johnson in 1968, Obama could choose not to run. He could even borrow Johnson's words to make his announcement:

With America's sons in the fields far away, with America's future under challenge right here at home, with our hopes and the world's hopes for peace in the balance every day, I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office--the Presidency of your country.  

Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.

Now this would be big. How big? It would be OJ Simpson big, except bigger. It would be bigger than Michael Jackson, bigger than the British Invasion, and bigger than our national deficit. It would be almost as big as Chris Christie but not quite that big.

On TV, radio, and in print we will be treated to an over the top love fest for the unselfish act by one of the most historic leaders in the history of mankind, both real and fictional. Reporters will claim to be left speechless by the President's announcement, right before they blather on non-stop about the enormous sacrifice the President is making. The 24 hour news cycle will need to be expanded by at least another hour.

Like Lincoln and Kennedy, Obama's shortened term of office will serve to leave behind a legacy far better than the one that might have been had each served eight years. Except, Obama will be alive, allowing him and his people to help write how he will be remembered. (You may recall the Obama team got some practice rewriting history with several of the Presidential bios stored on the White House web site.)

With Obama out of the race the investigations into the origins of his birth, the questions about his social security number, the mystery of his college grades, the relationships he had with Reverend Wright, Bill Ayers and other extremists, and the factual discrepancies in his autobiography will greatly die down. While some might continue to investigate, the results of any discovery would have no affect on an election. Donald Trump will go away, World Net Daily might shut down, and Sean Hannity may need to go to a half hour TV show and a two hour radio show.

Left in the wake of this monumental announcement will be the wildest game of political candidate poker the country has ever seen. Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Clinton will certainly give great consideration to competing for the nomination. Others will jump at the opportunity as well. For the first time in a long time the Democratic National Convention will be must watch TV.

Meanwhile, the Romney campaign would be tossed into disarray. It will be stuck in a holding pattern waiting to find out the ticket they will be running against. All their previous plans will be for naught. GOP fundraising might slow down while the donors wait to see who the Democrats are running. On the other hand, the right Democratic nominee might reenergize their party, causing their fundraising to sharply increase.

Time is of the essence for this to happen, if it is to happen.  The sooner Obama makes a decision to abandon the campaign trail, the more time he will have to concentrate on the awesome duties of the presidency, as seen through his eyes. He should be able to play at least 40 rounds of golf. He will have the time to take Air Force One to London and attend all 17 days of the Olympics. Fundraising efforts can be directed towards the construction and maintenance of his presidential library. He could pen any number of executive orders without concern for how it would affect his reelection. He would have oodles of time to review the lists of people seeking a pardon, making sure that there is a proper and untraceable quid pro quo.

Upon leaving office in January and after a year or two of Monday morning quarterbacking the new president, Obama will be ready to assume a more worldly position, such as President of the International Olympic Committee or Secretary General of the United Nations. Another media frenzy will surely follow his next career move.

Sometimes we need to take a step or two backwards in order to move Forward, in order to make history. Oh, did I mention that Obama will make tens of millions of dollars as soon as he leaves office?

(Yes, I know this isn't going to happen, just like I knew there was no way Chief Justice Roberts was going to vote with the liberal judges.)