How I know we will win

By Fred Hutchison

The Hollywood movie The Hustler featured a marathon pool match between Minnesota Fats, played by Jackie Gleason and Fast Eddie Felsen, played by Paul Newman. The characters are loosely based upon New York Fats (Rudolph Wanderone) and Fast Eddie Parker.

In the movie, Fast Eddie was on a streak and dominated the game for many hours. The hard-boiled manager of Fats (played by George C. Scott) said to Fats, "Stay after this kid. He is a loser." Eddie lost in the end.

The next day the manager had a long tough talk with Fast Eddie. The trainer told Eddie that Fats won because he has character. Eddie responded that he lost because he was drinking. The manager retorted, Fats was drinking too. You were drinking as an excuse for losing.

An excuse for losing

I have an old predictably liberal friend who I like to politically joust with so I can keep in touch with what the liberals think. I told him that the Republicans are in the worst shape they have been since Watergate. The Democrats have the advantage in money and have the best orator they have had since Franklin Roosevelt. In light of these advantages, I asked him to explain why McCain is competitive with Obama.

He blamed "lies told by the GOP, "lies told by the extreme right," "bigots who will never vote for a black man," and "disaffected Hillary supporters."

Do you hear the voice of Fast Eddie making excuses for losing? Such a mind set is fatal in a rapidly changing political battle because when you make excuses for losing you do not learn from your mistakes.

The ideology of the liberal democrats is to excuse the losers and blame the winners. The effect is to cripple the underclass because they have been given an excuse for losing. The class warfare politics of the Democrats makes the most productive people feel guilty for their success.

But what if success is often the reward of character? What if failure is often the penalty of vice? If this be the case, the politics of class warfare is a war against character and virtue and a reinforcement of excuses for laziness, self-indulgence and vice.

Why Obama will lose

Obama rose to power riding on the politics of class warfare. When one makes a career out of giving excuses to the losers, he eventually listens to himself and it undermines his character. Instead of learning from his mistakes and trying to understand why McCain is competetive, Obama is likely to blame "lies told by the GOP, "lies told by the extreme right," "bigots who will never vote for a black man," and "disaffected Hillary supporters." He has already dropped hints that this is what he is thinking.

Obama will lose because he is already making excuses for losing.

Why McCain will win

McCain has nine lives. His presidential prospects have taken many hard knocks. Several times, the pundits have pronounced McCain down for the count. However, like Minnesota Fats, McCain has character. He does not quit. He does not make excuses for losing. He learns from his mistakes. Each time he rises from the ashes he is a wiser man and one who is more adroit in the political wars.

He bet the ranch

McCain has chosen Sarah Palin as his running mate. It was a risky choice. McCain has grit and guts. The man who won't take chances cannot win. Obama took the safe way out by choosing Biden. McCain bet the ranch on Sarah Palin. Against all odds, she gave the most memorable speech of the convention season.

Sarah is a quick study. She is adroit in her movements. She can adapt to a quickly changing political environment. She is the opposite of Obama, who cannot admit it when he is wrong — and cannot learn from his mistakes because he is full of excuses for failing.

In a nutshell, these are the reasons why we will win!

© Fred Hutchison