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Petraeus '12?

OK, punditry is officially and completely off the tracks. The yammering has reached a fevered pitch revolving around this year's presidential scrum. (We here at TFL don't "yammer," btw. We soberly and insightfully comment on the state of affairs-- ahem -- just to be clear .)

I reached this conclusion when I read this headline:

Petraeus '12

I really couldn't read all of this piece, mostly because the whole thing is so preposterous. Could happen, but the layers of speculation are so deep, betting on Petraeus in 2012 is like betting on what teams will be in the Super Bowl in 2012. It assumes, for instance, that the Ds win the White House in 08, and that seems like a reasonable guess. But it also assumes that by 2012, the Iraq quagmire will have been exited in ways that the US doesn't look Adam Sandler at his goofiest or Genghis Khan at his bloodiest. That would mean we're out, the Iraqis have a functioning government and there's relative peace in the streets.

It assumes any number of conditions come to the fore. The premise seems to be that Petraeus would follow the Eisenhower Model. Big problem: Ike was a war hero in a world war. Iraq's not WWII, and, Lord willing, it doesn't become WWIII.

It's one thing to say, Gee, Patraeus may be a man on the rise in the public consciousness. But a President Petraeus? I like the alliteration, and maybe it could happen, but this notion just seems profoundly silly to me. Perhaps the drama of Election 08 has released silly gas from the Earth's core.

-RC

Posted by Robert Capozzi on January 24, 2008 08:07 AM | Permalink

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