It will come as absolutely no shock to anyone who follows Democratic Party politics that John Edwards will soon be making it official: he’s in the race for the 2008 presidential nomination.

Frankly, I think anyone who would consider entering the next presidential sweepstakes is one misfiring neuron shy of certifiably insane. George Bush has fucked up this country so much that no one is going to be able to fix the problems in four short years. In fact, I’ll go so far as to predict right now that the odds are pretty good that the 44th president of the United States will be a one termer. The bag of shit that Bush is going to leave the next occupant of the White House will be so overwhelming that 44 will either decline to run for a second term, or will be defeated in 2012 because s/he couldn’t deal with Bush’s mess in four short years. I don’t think we’ll even know how big the shitbag is until Bush leaves.

So, when I look at who I feel can get the most accomplished in four short years, and which candidate is in the best position (politically and ethically) to do the most good for the most people, John Edwards is definitely on my short list. I also think he’s smart enough for the job - or at least smart enough to surround himself with good people. That’s going to be the most important attribute that 44 will bring to the table, because the problems are going to be so vast that only the best minds will have a shot at getting the country heading back in the right direction.

Unfortunately, I don’t think that getting things heading back in the right direction is going to be enough, no matter who wins the next presidential election. Again, the mountain of shit is going to be so deep that no one could address all of the problems. But I do believe that a presidental contender of John Edwards’ caliber could certainly begin to reduce the size of the mountain.