In Roman times, prospective consuls would
Go down to some Plebeian neighborhood
And show the scars they’d gotten in the war,
And smile and promise cheap bread theretofore.
Such Condescension, though a clear charade
Of popular control, did not degrade,
But now our candidates for office must
Spend all their time eating Plebeian dust.
It’s not enough to pledge easy solutions,
You’ve got to share the common folks’ illusions.
The chief of these, the Brighter Future, is
What gives our party gatherings their fizz.
All optimists, we cling to that "right track"
And cry, with Bush, "Nothing will hold us back."
The way to a "safer world" must run on rails
For Leadership, in prospect, never fails.
Yet why should we repine the campaign long
At what the Romans knew kept countries strong?
Come November we’ll know just what to do
In choosing who’s the fitter of these two.
For sure that candidate has got to go
Who drops the mask and lets his Nuance show.
