Later, I had an interesting political fantasy. Dick Cheney has a massive heart attack (the ghost of Warren G. Harding forbid) and can't run. The Republicans decide that, to avoid the alienation of black voters, rather than kick Colin Powell out of the administration, they will kick him upstairs and run him for Vice President. They win the election. Meanwhile, Barack Obama is elected to the Senate, rapidly distinguishes himself in that body, gains a strong political base, and becomes the Democratic nominee for President in 2008. Powell becomes very popular as Vice President, and gains the Republican nomination for the Presidency. We have two black candidates for President in 2008.
The thing that would make me happiest is no more years of Bush. Having a contest between Powell and Obama is the thing that would make me second happiest. It's a very long shot, of course, but possible nevertheless. We would probably get political debates and speeches that were actually worth listening to, for a change. It's about time that something non-abysmal happened in American politics, anyway.